Surface Artemio and
Ruel Labong!
A press statement by
KATUNGOD-SB-KARAPATAN
March 11, 2012
Last March 4, 2012 at
around midnight, a group of soldiers from 87th Infantry Battalion of
the Philippine Army abducted Barangay Kagawad Artemio Labong, of Brgy.
Pagsang-an, Paranas,
Samar and his son Ruel, 21 years old. Barangay Kagawad Labong was
interrogated and was tortured in front of his 12 year old daughter.
That was the last time that Artemio and Ruel was seen.
The family members of
Artemio and Ruel saw that those who have taken them were members of
the Philippine Army. They were in full battle gear and in uniform.
The Regional Alliance
for the advancement and promotion of human rights, KATUNGOD-SB-KARAPATAN condemns this act of abduction by the members of
the 87th Infantry Battalion and demands the immediate release of the
two.
The Regional Alliance
is in apprehension that the two will be surfaced as members of the NPA
caught in the alleged raid of an NPA camp at the boundary of Pagsang-an
and Anagasi in Paranas Samar last March 5, 2012. This practice of
implicating innocent civilian has been a long practice of the 8th
Infantry Division of Armed Forces of the
Philippines.
We call on all
concern government office and agencies: the Commission on Human
Rights, the Local Government of Paranas, the Provincial Government of
Samar, to name a few, to look after the welfare of the people and took
decisive steps for the resurfacing Barangay Kagawad Artemio Labong ang
his son Ruel Labong. Further, to strike down with condemnation the
continued violation by the military on the human rights of the people.
