PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE

10TH INFANTRY (AGILA) DIVISION, PHILIPPINE ARMY

Naval Station Felix Apolinario, Panacan, Davao City
Contact Number: (082) 235-1041

Press Release December 10, 2010

Another life wasted by communist insurgency

Juanito “Jun Jun” Bustamante is just an ordinary person who wanted to earn a
living and survive. No one in his family thought that his life would come to an end in a
firefight.

For years, Jun Jun lived with his cousin Rolando Malcampo at Sitio Patulangon,
Barangay Zone 1, Sta Cruz, Davao Del Sur. According to Rolando, Jun Jun is a hard
working person. He worked as a “conductor” to a public utility jeep plying Sta. Cruz-
Digos City route. When the owner sold the jeep, Jun Jun moved to Barangay
Baracatan, Toril Dstrict, Davao City to work as a bamboo cutter. Jun Jun returned to
Rolando’s house after two months.

On May 15, 2010, Jun Jun told his cousin that he would go to Manila to look for a
job. He left the following day. For seven months, Rolando heard nothing about his
cousin until the day he arrived in sealed coffin. “Kung nahibalo lang ko nga si Jun Jun
didto na diay sa NPA, dili ko musugot, tungod kay nahibalo ko nga wala gyud ikatabang
ang paghupot ug armas (If I only knew that Jun Jun had joined the NPA, I would not
allow him because I know that it would not help),” Rolando said.

Jun Jun died in the encounter with the Army’s Scout Rangers on December 5,
2010. His comrades abandoned him and ran for their lives. With due respect to a dead
person, the soldiers brought his body to the nearest funeral parlor in Maragusan and
started to coordinate with the local police and the local government unit for the
identification and turn over of the dead rebel to his relatives. Three days later,
December 8, 2010 he was finally reunited with his grieving family.

The Mayor of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur and an ardent peace advocate, the
Honorable Joel Ray Lopez, committed to help the parents and relatives for the burial
expenses. Likewise, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver Artuz, Commander of the Army’s 39th
Infantry Battalion based in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, expressed his condolence to the
family of Jun Jun. He said, “It saddens me to know that one of our people here in Sta.
Cruz died in another municipality for a cause that has long been dead in this
municipality.”

In the past, Sta. Cruz town was considered a communist hotbed with many of its
residents joining the underground movement. Now that its security has improved with
the people’s support and cooperation to the government’s peace initiative, the life of the
residents is also starting to take off. Unfortunately, Jun Jun, whose life is wasted by his
communist recruiters, is no longer there to savor it.

Released by:

LTC MEDEL M AGUILAR PA

Public Information Officer
Cell No: 09177012377
Email add: dpao10id@yahoo.com
Website: www.agila10id.com