MANILA, Philippines - The human rights group Karapatan on Tuesday accused the military of burning down the house of a farmer and threatening to kill his 14-year-old son in a peasant village in Batangas province last week.
The military, on the other hand, dismissed the allegation as part of propaganda against the government.
This is state terrorism, nothing more, nothing less, Arnold Evangelista, information officer of Karapatans chapter in Batangas, said in a statement.
Citing reports from a fact-finding mission, Evangelista said that at least 25 soldiers, all members of the 740th Combat Group of the Philippine Air Force, barged into the house of farmer Zosimo Cortas last July 18 and hurt his son.
He said the soldiers also ransacked the houses of Cortas neighbors in Sitio Tibig in Cumba village, Batangas City.
Evangelista further said the soldiers even threatened to shoot the boy when he attempted to go out of the house to buy medicine for his aching stomach.
The group is asking Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chairman Leila de Lima to look into the matter.
Commenting on the allegations, Maj. Gerardo Zamudio, PAF chief information officer, said a coordinated effort seems to be at work to smudge the image of the government and military in Batangas.
There appears to be a coordinated hand behind all the propaganda against the government and the military in the area, he said.
He admitted that soldiers passed by the area last week to conduct civic military operations (CMO).
CMO intends to win the hearts and minds (of people). Burning houses does not do that. No soldier will go on burning houses of civilians knowing these are the very people they are out to protect, Zamudio said. - with D'Jay Lazaro, GMANews.TV