By ILOILO City – Summary Report on Shooting of Maknoy, Jebaca Residents
Date of incident: February 24, 2017
Place of incident: Sitio Maknoy, Brgy. Jebaca, Maayon, Capiz
Victims:
Lorendo Borres, 48, married (to Analy Diaz Borres, with two children), a carabao herder, resident of Sitio Maknoy, Brgy. Jebaca, Maayon, Capiz (killed)
Ian Borres, 24, single (with common-law wife Marjorie Dequino and four children), a farm worker, resident of Sitio Maknoy, Brgy. Jebaca, Maayon, Capiz (killed)
Perto Cargo, 33, married, farmer, resident of Sitio Maknoy, Brgy. Jebaca, Maayon, Capiz (survived)
Andy Borres, resident of Sitio Maknoy, Brgy. Jebaca, Maayon, Capiz (survived)
Alimar Borres, resident of Sitio Maknoy, Brgy. Jebaca, Maayon, Capiz (survived)
Perpetrators:
Unnamed elements of the 61st Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army
Accounts:
What happened in the afternoon of February 24, 2017 in Sitio Maknoy, Brgy. Jebaca, Maayon, Capiz was not an armed encounter, as earlier reported, but a shooting by a team of soldiers of the Philippine Army, killing two persons who were not NPAs but civilians native to the place.
At around 3 p.m. of that day, Lorendo Borres was at their farmhouse watching his carabaos grazing on a hillside, his usual daily chore. He was talking on his mobile phone with his wife Analyn, who was working as househelp in Manila. Two strangers in civilian clothes came to him and ordered him to give them his mobile phone.
He turned away and heard someone shouting, “Tiruha! Tiruha!” (Shoot him! Shoot him!) He ran home, which was around two kilometers away. He arrived at their house panting and pale shouting for help. He told his mother Lucivita that there were strangers at the farm who threatened him and may want to steal their carabaos.
When Lorendo’s relatives heard of the situation, namely Andy Borres, his cousin, Alimar Borres, Ian Borres and Perto Cargo, his nephews, they volunteered to go back to the farm with him, taking with them each his own bolo to foil any attempt by strangers to steal Lorendo’s cattle.
Previously, there were rumors circulating in the place that some convicts have escaped from a jail and were roaming around places, armed and dangerous.
As the five approached the farmhouse, they were suddenly fired upon from uphill. They saw men in fatigue uniforms and realizing they faced army soldiers and not just some robbers or cattle rustlers, they rolled and crawled as fast as they could downhill away from the shooting, in the process separating from each other.
The shooting went on intermittently for around 30 minutes. The soldiers numbered around 20 and were members of the 61st Infantry Battalion. At around 4 p.m., Andy Borres, Alimar Borres and Perto Cargo were able to return to their respective homes.
They were shaken and sorry for Lorendo Borres and Ian Borres did not return. Alimar Borres immediately reported the incident to their punong barangay, Rene Barrios and then to the Maayon PNP station. The police came to the house of the punong barangay, but did not take any further action.
The same army soldiers who were involved in the shooting prevented the relatives from going to where the bodies of Lorendo and Ian lay, saying they first had to wait for the scene-of-crime-operatives (SOCO). Barangay kagawad Marichel Borres reported the incident to the Philippine army detachment at Brgy. Tuburan, Maayon. The army in-charge took down the report, but did not take any further action.
The team from the army and police arrived only around 9:00 a.m. of the following day, February 25, 2017 to retrieve the body. Only the punong barangay and some tanods were allowed to accompany the team to the site. A hand grenade was seen beside the body of Lorendo Borres and a shotgun beside that of Ian Borres.
The bodies were around 70 meters from each other. The punong barangay told the soldiers the persons they killed were not NPAs but were civilians and his constituents. It was already 2:00 p.m. and the bodies were smelling foul when these were loaded on a Rio army truck and brought to Maayon poblacion where a funeral service got the bodies to bring to their parlor at Bailan, Pontevedra, Capiz. Everyone in Brgy. Jebaca knew that Lorendo Borres and Ian Borres were not NPAs.
Former punong barangay who served from 1972 to 2007 said he knew both since they were children, and could attest that they were of good standing in the community and were not NPAs. He said the people of Jebaca were deeply hurt by what happened.
Maayon Mayor Wilfredo Borres said both were his relatives. Lorendo regularly came to him at his office and house, and they were not NPAs. A cousin of Lorendo Borres, an army officer stationed in Negros was told by Phil. Army authorities that his cousin and nephew were mistaken killed, but the army will not admit this in public.
Lucivita Borres, 68, was devastated by the death of his son, Lorendo, whom she relied for her living. Marjorie Dequino, 25, common-law wife of Ian Borres, grieved and worried how she could raise her young family without her husband. Both cry for justice, finding it hard to believe why their loved ones were killed when they did nothing wrong. No one from the Phil. Army came to talk to them.
Relatives of Lorendo Borres and Ian Borres deplored the fact that the army soldiers prevented them from getting to see the two immediately after the incident, and leaving the bodies in the hot sun. They also decried the “planting” of a grenade and a shotgun on their dead bodies. Jebaca Brgy. Kagawad Marichel Borres said their whole community was terrified by the incident. Residents became afraid to go out to their farms, thus their livelihood is disrupted.
Karapatan joined the victims and residents in demanding for justice. The 61st Infantry Battalion of the Philippine army should admit they killed innocent persons and make reparations, instead of making continued denials and telling lies in its official pronouncements. (panaytoday.net)
Prepared by: Documentation Desk of Panay Alliance-Karapatan
February 28, 2017
