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Army denies involvement in Negros farmer's beheading

Philippines | Luzon

Army denies involvement in Negros farmer's beheading

By Glazyl Masculino

BACOLOD CITY - The Army’s Third Infantry Division (3^rd ID) slammed Karapatan-Negros for accusing the military of having a hand in the death of a farmer, whose body was found decapitated in a ravine at Sitio Amian, Barangay Tan-awan, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, last Saturday.

Negros-based rights group Karapatan, in a statement, said that 50-year-old Bernardo Guillen was reported missing last September 17, after an encounter between the military and members of the New People’s Army (NPA) in the said area.

However, Maj. Cenon Pancito III, 3^rd ID spokesperson, debunked Karapatan’s statement that Guillen was reportedly taken by the military.

Pancito said that the victim’s wife revealed that it was Guillen, himself, who insisted to get closer to the area when the encounter between the Army and the NPAs occurred last September 17.

Pancito said that the 11th Infantry Battalion (11^th IB) troops were the ones who responded in the area to retrieve Guillen’s body after receiving a report from a civilian who discovered his cadaver.

Pancito also said that Guillen was not beheaded. “It just happened that his body was in the advance state of decomposition when it was recovered by the authorities,” he added.

“Our authorities particularly the police is now doing everything to identify the real perpetrators and find out the truth behind his death,” he said.

Karapatan and the Sama-samang Artista para sa Kilusang Agraryo (SAKA) condemned the killing of Guillen, and called on the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) for an independent and thorough investigation into the said killing.

Bernardo was the father of Bernard Guillen, one of six activists known as Mabinay 6, who were arrested by the military on suspicion of being NPA rebels.

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