DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 06, 2008) – Two government soldiers seized by communist rebels have been freed Tuesday after 12 days in captivity in the southern Philippine province of Compostela Valley, a rebel leader said.
Rigoberto Sanchez, of the New People’s Army (NPA), said the two soldiers Napoleon Gerasmio and Huberto Corbita were freed after their families appealed to rebels to spare the lives of the duo.
“The issuance of this order is a unilateral act of the revolutionary political authority over the prisoners of war and is based on humanitarian grounds. We have given due consideration to the appeals made by their respective families and those that emanated from well-meaning friends in the various sectors, including those from the local government units,” Sanchez said.
He did not say where the two soldiers were released or whether they have been handed over to their families or negotiators.
Gerasmio and Corbita are both sergeants in the Philippine Army. They were captured at a rebel checkpoint on April 24 in the mountain village of Upper Ulip in Monkayo town.
Sanchez previously said that the soldiers were being investigated by a rebel court of any human rights abuses and crimes against civilians.
The NPA earlier warned that any attempt to rescue the two soldiers will put their lives at risk.
Military officials did not give any statement on the release of the soldiers, but it coincided with a massive military offensive in the province aimed at rescuing the duo.
Last year, communist rebels also seized an army soldier Sgt. Raul Reyes in Compostela Valley and freed him three weeks later on humanitarian grounds after his family appealed to rebels to spare his life.
Reyes was seized with two other militiamen Glorieto Mahumas and Rudy Villaflor, also a village chieftain, in October 7 after NPA forces raided a government post in the village of Canidkid in Montevista town. Mahumas and Villaflor later escaped from their captors.
The NPA said it seized the soldier after villagers complained that military units deployed in the town had been notorious in committing human rights abuses and violations. The rebels previously said the three would be tried for crimes committed against civilians. They had in the past kidnapped military and police officers, but also freed them to the International Committee of the Red Cross after negotiations.
The rebels, armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front, are fighting the Filipino government for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
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