Philippines: Death threats, red-tagging, spoil Christmas
As if the terror caused by the ongoing focused military operation in Santa Catalina and other areas of Negros Oriental’s 3rd District is not enough to dissipate the celebratory mood of the affected communities for the upcoming traditional Christmas day festivity, the 11th Infantry Battalion psywar hacks are unrelenting in spawning dangerous lies against civilians.
Last week, the family of Carlos Dayot, a farmer who hailed from Sitio Salingkubong, Barangay Tayak, Siaton, expressed outrage when they found out that Master Sergeant Borja of the 11th Infantry Battalion’s Alpha “Hunter” Company posted a death threat to Carlos Dayot, in his Facebook page. “Usa nalang ka adlaw ang imong kinabuhi (you have only a day to live),” the post said.
Dayot is the husband of one of the officers of the red-tagged, but legal and duly accredited progressive peasant organization Tayak United Farmer’s Association (TAUFA). As a result, Dayot is now in hiding and his family’s customary simple Christmas gathering eventually canceled.
“It’s already hard to celebrate Christmas when fascist guns are virtually trained on your head. But it’s much more harder when you are constantly threatened, red-tagged and intimidated on mere suspicion of being an New People’s Army member or supporter without any due process. It’s tantamount to a death warrant that will surely lead to tokhang-style execution and unlawful detention,” said Ka Estrella Banagbanag, the New People’s Army-Southeast Negros (Rachelle Mae Palang Command) spokesperson.
Banagbanag lambasted the 11th for being callous and insensitive to people’s traditions. “It only shows that the 11th IB are spoilers of Christmas like the mythological mischievous creature gremlins that wreak havoc and disorder on Christmas eve,” Banagbanag added.