By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in Negros Occidental revealed yesterday morning that the home owned by the Fausto family in Himamaylan City was ransacked several times prior to their massacre on June 14.
CHR head Vincent Parra said, based on their initial investigation, one of the victims, Emilda Fausto, reported that her home was ransacked by armed individuals three times before the massacre.
“We discovered that the female victim, on separate days, was able to report to the barangay alleging that their home had been ransacked. Prior to the killing, they were probably being tracked by armed men,” Parra said.
He added the first incident happened on March 13, when Emilda reported that while they were working on their fields, a neighbor told them that armed individuals in uniforms broke into their house and ransacked their belongings as if they were looking for something.
Several individuals in civilian clothes ransacked their belongings while they were out on March 18.
The third incident happened on May 12, when they found the door destroyed and their belongings scattered.
According to Parra, their agency has already coordinated with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples regarding the information that Emilda is a member of the Carol-an Tribe, an indigenous tribe from Kabankalan City’s Barangay Carol-an.
Meanwhile, Parra also confirmed that they are currently looking for Fausto’s daughter, Emily Hermino, who survived the massacre and reported the incident to police.
“They no longer know her whereabouts. The police said they could also not locate her. We left a message with the barangay if we could talk to her once she comes back,” he said.
Parra said they want to talk to Emily as part of their ongoing investigation over the massacre.
According to Parra, they left a message for village officials in Barangay Buenavista to immediately inform them if they managed to locate Emily.
The CHR is also trying to find out Emily’s relationship with alleged New People’s Army (NPA) leader Fernando Hermino.
Reports suggest that Emily is married to Fernando’s son.
Fernando is identified by the police as one of the leaders of the NPA’s Central Negros 2-Komiteng Rehiyon Negros, Cebu, Bohol, at Siquijor.
He, along with 15 other NPA members, are the primary suspects in the massacre, based on witness statements.
Earlier this month, Rolly Fausto, along with his wife Emilda and their two sons, 11-year-old Ben and 15-year-old Raben, were gunned down by still unidentified assailants.
Emilda and her sons were found riddled with bullets in their house, while Rolly was found in a field 50 meters away.
Himamaylan’s Barangay Buenavista is one of several NPA-influenced areas in central Negros where clashes that claimed the lives of several communist rebels and government troops have taken place in recent years./DGB, WDJ