The Manila Times
MANILA, Philippines — Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo S. Brawner Jr. on Friday said University of the Philippines (UP) student leader Alyssa Alano was “armed and fighting” during the Toboso, Negros Occidental clash supporting the military’s claim that all 19 casualties were identified members of the New People’s Army (NPA). “If she is innocent and she has no intentions of joining the armed group then bakit nung nakita siya naka rig siya, combat rig, may vest kung saan nandito ‘yung mga magazines,” Brawner told reporters in an interview in Cebu. (If she is innocent and has no intentions of joining the armed group, then why was she in a combat rig, with vest full of magazines.) “She was armed, she was fighting. Kitang-kita ng mga sundalo natin na lumalaban sila (our soldiers clearly saw they were fighting) unlike dun sa case ni Chantal na nahuli sa Mindoro (unlike Chantal [Anicoche] who was found in Mindoro.)” Filipino-American activist Chantal Anicoche was found alive after she went missing following a deadly encounter between government troops and NPA rebels in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro. Brawner emphasized that soldiers are “not human rights violators.” He said it was the series of civilian killings in the NIR caused by the remaining members of the NPA are what caused the armed forces to elevate their operations in the area.
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