Remembering Rey

The military may have cut off his head and mangled his face and body. But Rey Cayago’s face and name could never be forgotten by his colleagues, his family, and the migrants and their families whom he had helped.

BY EMILY VITAL
Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No. 15, May 18-24, 2008

There is a face to the growing number of those killed under the Macapagal-Arroyo administration. But more than the face is a name, as well as a story of struggle and commitment.

Rey Cayago’s face, name and story are worth remembering.

Rey Cayago (Photo courtesy of Bulatlat)

“We were threatened by soldiers that our community will be transformed into another Marag Valley and Tabbak. They (accused us of being) members of the New People’s Army (NPA). They showed us pictures of community destruction. They even told us that they were going to bring in soldiers who were trained by (retired Gen. Jovito) Palparan,” said a resident of Pananuman in Tubtuba, Tubo, Abra.

A 29-member fact-finding team went to Pananuman, Tubtuba, Tubo, Abra, early this month to investigate and document cases of human rights violations. Members of the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance and Indigenous People’s Rights Monitor said in a statement that what they saw reminded them of Marag Valley and Tabbak.

Marag valley in Cagayan was known to have been a “no man’s land” due to heavy military operations which included aerial bombings, shelling, food blockade and forced evacuations. Tabbak, on the other hand, is a community near Pananuman which was once called the “no-man’s land” of the Cordillera. For more than a month, the soldiers are doing the same to the residents of this community.

Desecration of the body

Since May 12, soldiers belonging to the 50th Infantry Battalion under the 503rd Infantry Brigade headed by Lt. Dalven Abdul Rashid Avila and Lt. June Pedregoza have conducted aerial bombings and mortar shelling in the community.

The residents said that on March 24, Avila was heard bragging about cutting a member of the NPA into pieces. He threatened community leaders that he will do the same to them if they do not stop supporting the NPA or refuse to give information about it.

Based on the statement released by members of the fact-finding team, the indigenous peoples who have a high regard and respect for the dead asked Avila to allow them to retrieve the body of the man said to be a member of the NPA to give him a decent burial or bring him to his family. Avila refused.

The residents were only able to locate the body of the alleged NPA member and give it proper burial last April 21, or three weeks after the incident. The body was later identified as that of Rey Cayago.

The team accompanied Cayago’s family and exhumed the body on May 4.