Diary reveals Cebuana rebel molested by NPA

CEBU, Philippines — A Cebuana student has been tagged by the military as member of the New People's Army (NPA) after her journal was recovered in last week's encounter in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental.

Brigadier General Eliezer Losañes, commanding officer of the 303rd Infantry Brigade (IB) assigned on Negros Island, confirmed to The FREEMAN the recovery of the journal, which allegedly belonged to a 26-year-old former B.S. Mathematics student of University of the Philippines (UP) in Cebu, hailing from Minglanilla.

The FREEMAN withheld the name of the alleged student because she claimed to have been sexually assaulted by her comrades.

UP Cebu, however, said in its official statement that contrary to the military's claims, the alleged NPA rebel is not a past or present student of the university.

"As confirmed by UP Cebu’s University Registrar and the Dean of the College of Science, our records show that we do not have a student, either past or present, by such name," the university's Office of the Chancellor said in its official statement.

The statement added that UP Cebu does not intrude in their students' religious beliefs, political affiliation, cultural orientation, and right to think freely.

"After graduation or outside of UP Cebu Campus, we have no control on decisions our students/alumni make," the university's statement noted.

In the journal reportedly written by the student herself, she recounted how she was molested and almost raped by NPA members after she was recruited in 2011, the military said in a statement Friday.

According to entries in the journal, a certain alyas Lindo sexually assaulted her several times, while in December 2012, a certain alyas Mori touched her private parts.

Her journal entries further revealed that she was recruited by NPA members in November 2011 in Himamaylan, Negros Occidental, and became a full-time member the following year.

She was deployed in the hinterland barangays of San Carlos City and in neighboring Canlaon City and Vallehermoso town in Negros Oriental.

During her deployment, she was made to do "mass work," 303rd IB spokesperson Captain Ruel Llanes told The FREEMAN in a phone interview.

"Sa mass work, sinasabi nila (sa mga mahihirap na residente) 'yung problema sa Pilipinas. One way of recruitment kasi ang mass work. Kapag nagsasalita sila sa mga barangay, ina-arouse nila 'yung damdamin ng mga tao, hanggang sa ma-recruit nila ang mga ito," Llanes said.

Llanes added that the student was among those who fled the NPA encampment in Barangay Guadalupe, San Carlos City when it was overran by military troops on Monday.

"Nakatakbo nga tong batang ito during the encounter. Nakuha lang natin yung mga gamit (niya)," he said.

Before being recruited to the NPA, she was a consistent honor student and class achiever at UP Cebu, the statement from the military said. The military further stated that before stepping into UP, she attended several schools in Cebu.

"We thoroughly inspected the recovered documents and it confirms that [name withheld] was with the group," Losanes said, adding that she is a "clear evidence" that the NPA harasses and sexually abuses their female members.

The revelation came a month after a former UP Cebu student, 21-year-old Myles Albasin, was captured in a military operation in Mabinay, Negros Oriental. Albasin and her five co-accused have been formally charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

Losañes appealed to parents to check on their children and to ensure that "they are doing the right thing in school."

"Guiding their students and constantly checking on them will prevent them from going astray and ending up as a communist NPA terrorist," he added. (FREEMAN)