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Sun.Star: Gov't men deny abducting 8-year-old girl in Cebu


CEBU CITY - Police, military and local officials of Tuburan town are refuting claims of a militant group about an alleged abduction of an eight-year-old girl. A throng of witnesses from Tuburan trooped to the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) in Cebu City yesterday to dispute a report published in a national daily and aired over a local radio station. The published report stated that the Kilusang Mambubukid ng Pilipinas claimed the girl was abducted on Oct. 16 after her classes ended at the Mag-alwa Elementary School in the northwest town, some 96 kilometers from Cebu City. The girl was reportedly subjected to tactical interrogation on the whereabouts of her parents, who are suspected members of the New People’s Army. Officials cried foul over the reports, saying it was one sided and did not publish the truth about what happened. They denied the girl was subjected to severe tactical interrogation that caused psychological trauma. Military personnel learned that the girl was the daughter of communist rebels and decided to talk to her. Valmoria said the army personnel initially talked to her at the school that morning and in the presence of teachers. Rogelio Barcenal, who was given custody by the girl’s parents, narrated that the girl’s father, Lyndon Botilla, left the girl with him last Oct. 5. Botilla, whom CPPO Director Carmelo Valmoria identified as a squad leader of the NPA’s Front 2 Committee based in Cebu’s mid-north, did not tell Rogelio when he will be returning for the girl. Valmoria said a warrant of arrest is out against Botilla for the attack the communist rebels launched against a team of soldiers in Barangay Sumon, Tuburan. Team leader Sgt. Orlando Luna, Cpl. Bobby Oscar Licono and Pfc. Joseph Bingil, all of the 78th Infantry Battalion, were killed by at least 15 armed rebels in October 2005. Botilla only asked that Rogelio take care of the girl and make sure that she continued going to school. Rogelio explained that he knew Botilla as an organizer of a cause-oriented group in their village. They met in January this year. Rogelio’s nephew Glenn Barcenal told reporters that he voluntarily brought the girl to the 78th Infantry Battalion detachment in Barangay Gaang, Tuburan that afternoon, after learning Botilla was wanted by authorities. He said they had to stay the night because it was late and raining, making it difficult to get back to Mag-alwa because of the terrain. The next day, they met Myrna Romero, administrative staff member of Tuburan Municipal Councilor Reymelio Delote, who went to the area to check if it was true a daughter of a rebel leader was abandoned. The girl was turned over to her by Rogelio. She stayed with Romero and Delote for a week. Romero, a former NPA member who is now employed by the Tuburan Municipal Government, would have turned her over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development, but the girl refused to go with municipal social worker Berlina Cana to the city. Last Oct. 31, she was turned over to Liza Baldespiñosa, her aunt. Romero said they asked the girl if she was familiar with Baldespiñosa, and the girl acknowledged that Baldespiñosa was her aunt. Cana said they had no choice but to release the girl to her next of kin. Baldespiñosa was accompanied by lawyer Alphonso Cinco, who is affiliated with human rights group Karapatan. Valmoria challenged the girl’s parents to appear and clarify matters if they are not members of the NPA. He said that under Presidential Decree 603 of the Child and Youth Welfare Code in relation to Republic Act 7610, her parents could be charged for abandoning their daughter. Delote, for his part, called on progressive groups who are calling for reforms to found their reforms “on truth, not deception." He also hopes the DSWD or the Commission on Human Rights will step in to make sure the girl is taken care of and not brainwashed. Delote said he talked with the girl and described her as “articulate and bright" and could easily be taught. - Sun.Star

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