Makabayan solons slam military for allegedly disrespecting Jevilyn Cullamat's remains

The House Makabayan Bloc on Monday strongly condemned the Philippine Army's 3rd Special Forces Battalion for allegedly disrespecting the remains of Jevilyn Cullamat, daughter of Bayan Muna party-list Representative Eufemia Cullamat, after she was killed in an encounter on Saturday.

In a statement, the six-member group demanded that photos of Jevilyn's remains be immediately withdrawn from government websites and those responsible for its circulation be held accountable.

"The military blatantly violated International Humanitarian Law by desecrating the remains of Jevilyn, circulating photos of her obviously artificially posed body as though she were still carrying a rifle, and with troops displaying her corpse alongside captured paraphernalia," they said.

"The soldiers did not only disrespect her remains but even used it like a trophy for propaganda purposes," they added.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines however denied its troops desecrated Jevilyn's remains.

"We vehemently deny that. The photo was taken for reporting and documentation purposes that is required after every encounter," it said in a statement.

According to a report from the Special Forces, Jevilyn was killed in a 45-minute encounter in Barangay San Isidro in Marihatag, Surigao del Sur, as identified and confirmed by nine former rebels.

She was reported to have served as a medic of the New People's Army and supposedly belongs to the Communist NPA Terrorist's Sandatahang Yuniy Pampropaganda Platoon of the Guerilla Front 19, Northeastern Regional Committee (NEMRC).

Five high-powered firearms were seized in the encounter including three AK-47 rifles, one M14 rifle, and one M653 5.56 caliber rifle. Five backpacks containing "war material and subversive documents" were also seized.

But in conducting their anti-rebellion campaigns, the military continued to violate the rights of the people, including the "reckless" red-tagging and terrorist-tagging of activists, artists, critics of the government, and even ordinary citizens, the Makabayan lawmakers said.

"Landlessness, joblessness, massive poverty, oppression, injustice  and exploitation are the many reasons that fuel the armed conflict. These cannot be solved by more human rights violations, including McCarthyist witchhunting. These social issues can be addressed by the peace negotiations that we have been advocating to be resumed," they said.

"Jevilyn's death is a stark reminder instead to government that people continue to embrace armed struggle because of the continuous failure to address the root causes of the rebellion in our country," they added. —KG, GMA News