The fruits never fall far from the tree - a tale of repression in banana country

6 Abra students were "kidnapped" a few weeks back. The AFP's local brass vehemently denied involvement in the crime (as they always do). They made up a story of some the students not being students at all and instead were supposedly in their forties already.

"The village of Kili, with the help of the neighboring villages in northern Sagada, organized search teams to locate the missing schoolchildren. Later, they found out that soldiers detained the children at a military camp in Lagangilang."... The AFP official again denied that they abducted the teenagers. He said they took custody of the children to protect them from being harmed in sporadic clashes between NPA rebels and government soldiers along the mountain trail.

Asked why the boys remained in the soldiers' custody for 11 days, the officer said: "The number of days was immaterial. What was important was the intention to keep them safe."

The fruit never falls far from the tree. Another tale of repression in banana country.