Tacloban City- Another town in the province of Leyte has declared insurgency-free during the commemoration of the 18th Anniversary on the discovery of the Inopacan Massacre on August 28, 2024, in Inopacan, Leyte.
Sapang Bato, a mountain village in Inopacan was said to be the killing field of summary executions and the burial ground for the gruesome deaths of at least 67 members of the New People’s Army (NPA) that their own comrades killed. Their skeletal remains were unearthed in the said town on August 28, 2006. It is estimated by former rebels and the relatives of the victims that the mass purging in the 1980s, which the NPA called “Oplan Venereal Disease,” killed some 300 people in the province of Leyte alone.
802nd Brigade Commsnder, Brigaduer Gen.Noel Vistuir said during the commemoration of the 18th year since the exhumation, the family members of the victims manifested their sorrow and despair for what their family had gone through. They strongly condemned the NPA who caused nothing but misery and regret in the life of their father, mother, brother, sister and others who just wanted justice and fairness.
In a testimony by one of the relatives, Alma (not her true name), she was then in Grade 2, when armed men forcibly abducted her father in their family home in 1985. She tearfully recalled that she had never seen her father again after the abduction. Her mother and she, being the eldest, went from relative to relative to make ends meet. She is now in her 50s and justice has yet to be given to them.
After the successive declaration in the neighboring towns, the local government of Inopacan headed by its Mayor Honorable Rogelio D Pua Jr was finally able to declare Stable Internal Peace and Security Conditions (SIPSC) in their beloved town together with the strong resolve of the people to cast out all who will disturb the peace in their homeland.
The ceremony was supported and attended by stakeholders and partner agencies in promoting sustainable peace and development. Present were Honorable Rogelio Pua, Jr, the Mayor of Inopacan together with the Sangguniang Bayan members, and Baybay City mayor, Honorable Jose Carlos Cari, also with his Sangguniang Bayan members. Also in attendance were representatives from the municipality of Mahaplag. It can be recalled that the massacre victims came from these three localities.
Other personalities who personally led the commemoration and the formal signing of the declaration of the Municipality of Inopacan as in the state of SIPSC were Miss Roma Demeterio, the Cluster Head of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in Leyte and the Deputy Provincial Director of the Philippine National Police Provincial Headquarters led by Police Lieutenant Colonel Ricky Reli.
In his speech, Lieutenant Colonel Rosalejos congratulated all Inopacnons for their collective effort in attaining this significant milestone in their municipality. Rosalejos further stated that the declaration is seen as a gateway to a brighter future, encouraging tourism and investment while ensuring that the past’s horrors are never repeated.
“We are moving from this dark chapter of our history, advancing toward a brighter and lasting peace, while carrying with us the lessons that will ensure the NPA never again sows terror among us,” Rosalejos said in the vernacular.
The SIPSC declaration was made official by a covenant through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Pledges of Commitment and was ended by the release of white doves to symbolize peace and new beginnings.
Inopacan so far is the 33 towns declared as Stable Internal Peace and Security as the Task Force Elcac in Eastern Visayas is focusing on the documentation until Region 8 will also be declared the same.