ZAMBOANGA CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 13 Apr) Security forces arrested three teenage communist rebels after villagers led soldiers to their hideout in the southern Philippines province of Davao del Norte, officials said Thursday.
Officials said the trio -- Edgar Omaling, 13; Ernie Omaling, 15; Jay Subugan, 16 -- were arrested in the village of Minopal in Talaingod town where the New People's Army (NPA) is actively operating.
"The child combatants are all active members of the New People's Army's Pulang Bagani Command and that one them is a trained gunner. We will hand over the children to proper authorities," Lt. Col. Francisco Simbajon, spokesman for the Army's 4th Infantry Division, told the Zamboanga Journal.
Simbajon said villagers led the military to the rebel hideout where they arrested the three teenagers. "They did not resist arrest," he said without further elaborating.
The spokesman did not say when the three rebels were arrested, but other military sources claimed they were captured over the weekend. No details about their activities or backgrounds were made available, except that they were recruited by NPA rebels last year.
Communist insurgents are known to recruit children and trained them in guerilla warfare and often use as spy or courier. Aside from the NPA, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's largest Muslim separatist rebel group, is also said to employ child combatants in the southern Philippines.
The United Nations said child soldiers are recruited in many different ways. Some are conscripted, others are press-ganged or kidnapped, and still others are forced to join armed groups to defend their families.
In many instances, recruits are arbitrarily seized from the streets, or even from schools and orphanages, when armed militia, police or army cadres roam the streets, picking up anyone they encounter.
Hunger and poverty may drive parents to offer their children for service; armies may even pay a child soldier's wage directly to the family. And parents may encourage their daughters to become soldiers if their marriage prospects are poor.
Hunger and poverty may drive parents to offer their children for service; armies may even pay a child soldier's wage directly to the family. And parents may encourage their daughters to become soldiers if their marriage prospects are poor.
Sometimes, children become soldiers simply in order to survive. A military unit can be something of a refuge, serving as a kind of surrogate family and children may join if they believe that this is the only way to guarantee regular meals, clothing or medical attention.
The UN said an estimated 300,000 children under the age of 18 are currently fighting in more than 20 conflicts worldwide.
2 comments:
Sad to hear exploited children. This is child abuse. And, puts their life in danger. And, not much different from child labor. They have much to experience and see in the world.
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