That’s what it’s like reading the flood of claims about the armed conflict in Barangay Cabacao, Abra del Ilog, Occidental Mindoro. Someone keeps handing us jigsaw pieces from a completely different box — and calling it the truth.

An encounter between the NPA and the military labeled a “massacre” here, another screaming “student immersion” there. It’s confusing, polarizing, and ultimately does a terrible disservice to the people actually living through it.

The recent NABANGANI Fact-Finding and Solidarity Mission Report is striking — an independent investigation by a coalition including former rebels (Buklod Kapayapaan Federation Inc.) and families of conflict victims (Hands Off Our Children Movement Inc.) into the 1 January encounter in Sitio Mamara.

From 26 to 28 January, 51 coalition members went door-to-door in four sitios. Sat with Mangyan Iraya elders. Listened to witnesses and local residents. No script. No speculation.

They visited the site where Jerlyn Rose Doydora’s body was found. She was a young student and a former Kabataan Party-list officer. They prayed and lit candles. Her brother spoke. Beside him was the mother of Stephanie Joy Borinaga who remains missing.

The fact-finding group’s work is a masterclass in patiently sorting through puzzle pieces to bring out the real picture. And the picture it revealed is not the one that went viral.

Later that night, Sitio Kalamias came alive with tradition. The Iraya danced, sang, spoke through poetry while solidarity groups joined in.

The viral narrative was horrifying — a “Cabacao Massacre” with dead children and wounded mothers — blamed on the military. But ground verification tells a starkly different story.

By checking on health worker logbooks, doing headcounts, and listening to residents, the team found zero civilian casualties. No missing children. No wounded mothers. The firefight happened more than 500 meters away from homes, in a pasture. The “massacre” was a myth.

Here’s the crucial twist — debunking that falsehood doesn’t mean everything is fine. The real crisis is more insidious. The community suffers from fear-driven displacement, lost livelihoods, and deep trauma — children trembling at the sound of gunfire.

The report also documents serious violations by the CPP-NPA — using human shields, the extrajudicial killing of a Mangyan civilian, and most disturbingly, the deceptive recruitment of the youth.

This is the heartbreaking core. The report traces a pipeline where poverty and a lack of local secondary schools make young people vulnerable. They’re approached by front organizations promising “research” and “immersion.” Their idealism is exploited.

The community testified that no real research was ever done; these visits were a complete facade. Young individuals like Jerlyn and Stephanie were placed directly in harm’s way, their lives and futures jeopardized for propaganda and tactical gain.

There’s a secondary victimization. External groups, the report found, swooped in to amplify the false “massacre” story, using the Mangyan community’s identity and pain for their own political fundraising and campaign — without their consent, causing the community deep distress and reputational harm.

It’s an ultimate insult to be turned into a pawn in a narrative war they never asked to join.

A community already traumatized by armed conflict, already displaced and afraid, suddenly finds itself at the center of a misinformation storm. Their names, their faces, their suffering — all repackaged as content for people thousands of kilometers away to share and fundraise over. No one asked them if the story was true. No one sought their permission. They were just collateral damage in someone else’s information war.

So, what’s the takeaway? It’s a dual call for accountability and responsibility.

First, hold accountable those who weaponize lies. Fake atrocities cheapen real suffering and cover up real crimes. Crying “massacre” over zero civilian casualties? Clearly, it’s sabotage, not advocacy.

Second, focus on the neglected truths: poverty, no schools, trauma, youth recruitment. That’s the crisis.

The Nabangani report is the puzzle we’ve been waiting for. Finally, we see the real picture: a community asking for peace, development, and justice — not the sensationalized fiction others are selling.

The truth isn’t murdered children; it’s the living terrified children. Young people lied to, led into danger. An indigenous community caught in the crossfire of bullets and narratives.

Our job now? Stop looking at the wrong pieces. Stop amplifying unverified claims. Listen to the community before speaking for them. Mangyan Irayas are not symbols in anyone’s propaganda war, but human beings deserving of the simple dignity of being believed.