‘Communist terrorist movement’ to blame for Cullamat daughter’s death —Lorenzana

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Sunday claimed that the killing of Bayan Muna Representative Eufemia Cullamat’s 22-year-old daughter in a military encounter is a product of the “fruitless armed conflict” perpetrated by “communist terrorists.”

“Let this incident bring to the fore the duplicity of the communist terrorist movement, whose members in the higher echelons pit Filipinos against fellow Filipinos,” Lorenzana said in a statement.

Jevilyn Cullamat was killed in a 45-minute encounter between the military and the New People’s Army (NPA) in Barangay San Isidro in Marihatag, Surigao Del Sur. 

She was reportedly an NPA medic and a member of the Sandatahang Yunit Pampropaganda Platoon of the Guerilla Front 19, Northeastern Regional Committee.

Cullamat said her daughter joined the NPA after witnessing the military abuse of Lumad communities. 

Lorenzana said that Jevilyn would be “treated with dignity” and vowed transportation and security assistance for her bereaved family.

Earlier in the day, however, Cullamat decried the military’s “desecration” of her daughter’s remains.

A photo released by the military showed Jevilyn's body arranged next to firearms and other equipment confiscated after the clash, with soldiers posing next to her.

“Hindi siya bagay, hindi siya isang tropeo na ipaparada para lamang sa propaganda ng militar. Hindi niyo na ginalang ang patay, binabastos pa ninyo ang nagluluksa naming pamilya,” the elder Cullamat said.

Netizens also condemned the photos.

Under the international humanitarian law, medical personnel “must be respected and protected in all circumstances. They lose their protection if they commit, outside their humanitarian function, acts harmful to the enemy.” 

Meanwhile, Lorenzana renewed calls for congresspeople from the Makabayan bloc “and all those who condone the atrocities committed by the NPA to denounce the divisive ideology that destroys lives and property.”

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Secretary General Renato Reyes Jr. previously explained that condemning armed struggle instead of addressing the conditions that gave rise to it “will only lead to the denial of the social basis of armed conflict and falls right into the militarist approach.” 

“A poor man steals from a grocery to feed his hungry children. It is a crime. Do we condemn the man? No. We know he was forced to commit a crime because of poverty and desperation,” Reyes said. — BM, GMA News