• THERESA MAE DULMAN
The Philippine Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade welcomed calls for an investigation into the April 19 military operation in Toboso town, Negros Occidental that left 19 people dead, including two American citizens.
But the brigade emphasized that any entry of foreign investigators remains a national government decision.
Brigadier General Ted Dumosmog, commander of the 303rd Infantry Brigade, also maintained that the encounter by the 79th Infantry Battalion was a legitimate military operation, adding that Philippine authorities are already investigating the incident.
“In the Philippines, we have an investigating body that is conducting the investigation; we have the Philippine National Police,” Dumosmog said in a press briefing.
United States lawmakers have called for an independent, impartial, and credible inquiry into the clash in Barangay Salamanca, Toboso where U.S. citizens Kai Sorem and Lyle Prijoles were killed.
Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal and other U.S. lawmakers questioned the military’s claim that all 19 fatalities were New People’s Army combatants, citing reports that up to nine were civilians and human rights advocates documenting rural conditions.
“We have nothing to hide,” Dumosmog stressed, adding the Commission on Human Rights also conducted a formal investigation.
He underscored national sovereignty and existing regional diplomatic norms regarding foreign intervention.
“It is only the Department of Foreign Affairs that can answer that, or the national government, if we will allow them to come because we are a sovereign country and we have our own investigation,” the general said.
“In the ASEAN culture, we do not interfere with the local affairs of our neighbors,” he added. | TMD
