ILOILO City – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Western Visayas has begun processing the burial assistance to families of nine casualties in Tapaz, Capiz during the synchronized police and military operations on Dec. 30, 2020.
Delia Bagolcol, DSWD-6 assistant regional director for operations, said families of the slain indigenous peoples (tumandok) whom the police alleged as New People’s Army (NPA) rebels will receive burial assistance of P25,000 each.
Additional funds will be provided to those who would need to transfer cadavers of their loved ones to another place, Bagolcol said.
Bagolcol further said the DSWD Quick Response Team in partnership with the local Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office conducted a psychosocial first aid to attend to the needs of affected children and women on Jan. 2.
Some 70 sleeping kits amounting to P90,648 were also provided to 66 families, and toys for children amounting to P8,820.00.
She said there are also food packs and hygiene kits on standby as per request of the local government unit of Tapaz.
“Our office extended financial assistance and food packs to families of the nine persons and even their burial. Wala tayong pinipili na bigyan ng assistance, kahit NPA (New People’s Army) man or civilian,” Dagolcol said.
“The DSWD Field Office 6 assures the provision of basic services will be given to the affected families with regards to the protection of internally displaced persons,” Dagolcol added.
The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Region 6 which staged the raids alleged the slain individuals were New People’s Army (NPA) rebels.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Gervacio Balmaceda, chief of CIDG-6, maintained that the coordinated operations were conducted after a thorough intelligence investigation, involving 28 search warrants “based on information from civilians about the presence of personalities with high-powered firearms and explosives.”
However, families of the casualties and those of the arrested persons claimed they were sleeping when law enforcers arrived.
Most of the targets were indigenous peoples who have been red-tagged by the military for their vocal opposition to militarization in their communities and in recent years the construction of the Jalaur mega dam, according to the Commission on Human Rights in Western Visayas.
The commission and the Police Regional Office 6’s (PRO-6) Regional Internal Affairs Service started their independent investigations into the fatal raids./PN
