Witness says Palang visited his house with armed men

CEBU - ZAMBOANGUITA, Negros Oriental —A farmer from Zamboanguita town yesterday told reporters that the Cebuana nursing graduate and two others killed in an encounter with soldiers last Sept. 18 were part of a armed group that visited his house on the evening of Sept. 14.

Jesus Cañete, investigator of the Commission on Human Rights in Negros Oriental, presented to the media the witness who said that the armed group, together with the three, went to his house that night.

Cañete showed him a picture of Palang, and the witness said she was one of the women who were with the armed group that went to his house that evening.

“Pagkaugma, adlaw’ng Lunes, ang mga tawo nga puros nagdala og armas ila ming gi-leksiyonan kabahin sa ilang tahas sa pagpanalipod sa katawhan, nga gitawag og sundalo sa katawhan, dayon pagkahuman nibiya sila sa among panimalay, og mao nalang among nahibal-an nga nagka-ingkuwentro na diay ang army og kadtong mga tawo niadto sa among balay,” the farmer said.

The witness said that after the reported encounter, the military called him and his family to help them to carry the dead bodies of the slain rebels to the town proper. 

It was then that he saw and identified the woman and the two others as among the group that went to his house.

“So ako gayud naila ang babaye nga maoy usa’s akong bisita sa among balay sa wala pa siya mamatay,” the witness said, referring to Rachelle Mae Palang.

Palang, 21, was killed together with other two suspected NPA rebels in the sitio Tagik, barangay Nasig-id, Zamboanguita last September 18.

Meanwhile, following Provincial Board member Victor Maambong’s motion for the CHR to look into the incident Central Command chief Lt. Gen. Pedro Ike Inserto in a press conference yesterday challenged Maambong to investigate the incident for himself.

“He should go up to the mountain, to the encounter area for him to investigate for himself and come up with a new resolution,” Inserto said.

“He is castigating our soldiers who were fighting the enemy under dubious circumstances. They will be hurt with that… We should be thankful to our troops for doing their best, for risking their lives not just for their selves but also for the whole Central Visayas,” Inserto further said.

In another development, the colleagues of Palang cried foul over the giving of medals and cash incentives to soldiers who took part in the encounter.

The College Editors’ Guild of Philippines and the other progressive youth groups described the award given to the members of the 79th IB as a “bribe to kill” the people critical to the administration.

CEGP Cebu chairwoman Ma. Carla Alavarico, a close friend of Palang, said that the latter was a “loss for the Filipino people”.

“Their gain is the Filipino people’s loss of a rights defender,” Alvarico said.

She recalled that Palang was a student leader who put people’s interests first before her own. — Niña Chrismae G. Sumacot, Fred P. Languido and Syril G. Repe, Negros Oriental correspondent (THE FREEMAN)