REDS' ATROCITIES. Leaders and members of various indigenous tribes relate the acts of terrorism which they suffered in the hands of the CPP-NPA-NDF during a media forum hosted by the Philippine Air Force with Col. Gerardo Zamudio (right), Assistant Chief of Air Staff for Civil Military Operations, as lead resource person. The forum was held at Camp Guillermo Nakar in Lucena City on Tuesday (Oct. 16, 2019). (PNA photo by Belinda Otordoz)
CAMP G. NAKAR, Lucena City -- Members of various indigenous peoples (IPs) from Mindanao, such as the Manobos, and Aetas from northern Quezon convened on Tuesday at the Officers' Clubhouse in this camp to drum up public awareness on the oppressive practices of the Communist Party of the Philippines–New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) for the past years.
The event was organized by the Southern Luzon Command and the Philippine Air Force (PAF), and hosted by Col. Gerardo Zamudio, Assistant Chief of Air Staff for Civil Military Operations.
Datu James, speaking for the group, recounted the atrocities experienced by the IPs in the hands of the CPP-NPA-NDF.
He said even the female members of the groups were not spared from the atrocities of the rebels that included some of the IP leaders being buried alive, forcing recruits to kill a person and assigning even 12-year-old children to collect “revolutionary tax.”
Most of the IPs present escaped from rebel camps in 2014 and 2016, and only came out in the open recently to ramp up the public awareness on NPA atrocities and to refute the lies by the CPP-NPA-NDF, such as the military killing IPs.
They recently went around Europe and the U.S. to dispute the web of lies spread by the communist groups just to obtain funds from international organizations.
Datu Awing Apuga, a tribe leader from Surigao del Norte, said when they succeeded in soliciting infrastructure projects from the government including roads, schools and health centers, the rebels torched equipment being used in the construction, as well as building projects, to arrest development in their respective areas.
Zamudio said with the help of the IP group members, they could eventually identify the rebels and attain peace and development as the primary goal included in the Usapang Pangkapayapaan, Usapang Pangkaunlaran (UP-UP Southern Luzon), a program initiated by the PAF. (PNA)
