On December 27, 2018, combined elements of the police and
military launched “Oplan Sauron,” a so-called “one-time-big-time” Synchronized
Enhanced Managing Of Police Operations (SEMPO) purportedly as part of
government’s efforts against illegal drugs and loose firearms in the Central
Visayas Region.
While Oplan Sauron was supposedly designed to cover the
entire region, its focus was on Negros Oriental particularly Guihulngan City
and the towns of Mabinay, Sta. Catalina and La Libertad. Oplan Sauron was effected
upon orders of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) Central Command
(CENTCOM). Mobilized for such purpose were around 3,000 composite troops of the
94th Infantry Battalion (IB) and 62nd IB of the 302nd Brigade of the Philippine
Army, in coordination with various units of the Philippine National Police
(PNP) such as the Special Action Force (SAF), Regional Mobile Force (RMF7) and
the Negros Oriental PNP Office (NOPO), including those from the Philippine Navy
and Philippine Air force who were either on stand-by mode or in the field of
action.
Oplan Sauron, however, did not run after criminals involved
in the illegal drugs trade but was rather a highly coordinated military and
police operation that targeted and employed illegal and brutal acts against
unarmed civilians belonging to legitimate peasant groups, farmers associations,
and local government units in the barangays. To justify the atrocities, the
victims were later falsely tagged by the military as armed rebels or members of
the NPA.
The real story behind Oplan Sauron
Initial reports from a fact-finding mission initiated by
human rights group Karapatan Negros claim that the Dec. 27, 2018 SEMPO or Oplan
Sauron resulted in the killing of 6 unarmed civilians, the synchronized conduct
and brutal pattern of which are described as follows:
• Around 5:00 am, in Sitio Panagtugas, Brgy. Trinidad,
Guihulngan City, fully-armed elements of the PNP and 94th IB forced their way
into the house of JIMMY FAT, 57, shooting the latter to instant death. They
dragged and hurled him out towards the front yard where his children were
assembled, then “planted” a .38 revolver and some bullets beside the dead body.
• Around 5:00 am, in Sitio Punong, Brgy. Trinidad,
Guihulngan City, the PNP and 94th IB, together with 3 CAFGU personnel, raided
the house of JUN COBOL. Cobol immediately raised both his hands and kneeled to
let the assailants know that he was unarmed and was not offering any
resistance. Despite Cobol’s obvious gesture of submission, the armed men shot
and killed him in front of his wife, Benecia. They then carried the victim’s
body and heaved it onto their vehicle.
• Around 5:00 am, in Sitio Kaingan, Brgy. Trinidad,
Guihulngan City, the PNP and 94th IB raided the house of JAIME REVILLA, a
community organizer, and shot the latter to death. They then “planted” a .38
revolver and some bullets beside the victim’s body.
• Around 5:00 am, in Sitio Ilaya, Brgy. Hilaitan, Guihulngan City, the PNP and 94th IB raided the house of RENEBOY FAT, a habal-habal (motorcycle) driver, and shot the latter to death.
• Around 7:00 am, in Sitio Malabyokon, Brgy. Buenavista,
Guihulngan City, the PNP, 94th IB and PAF raided the house of JESUS ISUGAN, 26
years old, a habal-habal driver and construction worker. The assailants asked
Isugan if he knew where a certain Tomas Isugan was. When Jesus answered in the
negative, the armed men dragged him towards the back of the house and shot him
to death in front of his wife, child, siblings
and father. They then placed the victim’s body inside a sack and tossed it by
the road.
• In La Libertad, Negros Oriental, GABBY ALBORO, a media
practicioner for the DYJL FM radio station also known by his media moniker
“Kumander Aguila,” was gunned down by armed men riding-in-tandem. Aside from
these incidents of extrajudicial killing, other rights violations were
committed by armed state forces during and after the December 27 SEMPO such as
the mass warrantless arrest of 50 unarmed individuals from 8 barangays most of
whom were “planted” with firearms and falsely identified as NPAs, illegal
searches of private dwellings in at least 5 barangays, expropriation of cash
and crops, destruction of properties and burning of homes;
The terror sown by Oplan Sauron and the continued presence
of military and police forces in communities have forced many residents, most
of whom are farmers, to evacuate, making it difficult for them to attend to the
land they till and for their children to go to school.
Local, national and even international rights groups and
people’s organizations have strongly condemned Oplan Sauron. The Archbishop of
the Archdiocese of San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, The Most Reverend Bishop
Gerry Alminaza, described the climate of brutal repression on the entire Negros
Island as tantamount to martial law.
