Protesters, burglar hit Camp Aguinaldo

MANILA, Philippines - Militants staged a rally in front of Camp Aguinaldo yesterday to denounce the alleged human rights abuses of the military.

Around 30 protesters gathered in front of the camp’s Gate 2 along EDSA and sprayed the wall with red and black paint.

The crew of a military fire truck used a water cannon on the protesters, forcing them to disperse, but not before they threw canisters and bags of paint, hitting the wall and some photojournalists covering the incident. 

The protesters, led by the College Editors Guild of the Philippines, denounced an ongoing anti-insurgency campaign by the military that has reportedly displaced thousands of lumad, members of indigenous tribes, in Davao and Northern Mindanao.

Col. Noel Detoyato, the military’s public affairs office chief, said the gate had to be closed in order to prevent the protesters from entering the military compound.

Meanwhile, a still unidentified man snuck into the military camp and stole an undetermined amount of cash and valuables from the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) building before noon yesterday.

The burglary – which occurred at the building’s second floor – was discovered shortly after the OCD employees returned from attending the First Friday monthly mass at the ground floor of the building.

The burglar went through the executive offices of disaster officials, including those of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Coordinating Council.

Military police investigators initially recorded that two wallets – one of them containing P30,000 – and several mobile phones left by employees were missing.

A witness said the burglar was a dark-skinned, middle-aged man “and everybody thought he was just helping or was seeking help from the priest.”

Yesterday’s burglary was not the first such incident at Camp Aguinaldo.

In 2012, unidentified robbers stole gadgets, jewelry and cash from the official residence of the Armed Forces of the Philippines chief, then occupied by retired general Jesse Dellosa, now Customs deputy chief for intelligence.

Several months later, unidentified thieves stole a military dentist’s vehicle while it was parked in the military camp.