DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 22, 2008) – The Philippine military on Tuesday said it will always uphold human rights as troops prepare to mount fresh offensive against communist rebels in Mindanao.
“The 10th Infantry Division assures the public that the military troops is committed in bringing peace and will always uphold the basic rights of the populace as they perform their mandated task,” Army Lt. Col. Kurt Decapia said.
He said more troops and armored vehicles, including Howitzer cannons, arrived in the southern Philippines to boost the government’s fighting power against the New People’s Army (NPA), which is being blamed for the spate of attacks in the provinces, especially in Compostela Valley.
Militant groups Karapatan and Bayan have accused the military of violating the rights of indigenous tribesmen and civilians in Mindanao. It said soldiers arrested and tortured many civilians and political activists, including human rights advocates who were accused of supporting the NPA.
The groups also accused two Philippine Air Force servicemen of torturing a six-year old boy in Davao City last week. The boy was playing near a military base when the two soldiers, who were both drunk, seized the child and burned his body with cigarettes.
The rebels vowed to launch more attacks in Mindanao.
Lt. Col. Rolando Bautista, spokesman for the 10th Infantry Division, said the Army’s 1st Mechanized Infantry Battalion land the 3rd Field Artillery Battalion have arrived in Mindanao to augment thousands of troops already deployed in the troubled region to fight the rebels.
He said two dozen armored vehicles and about a dozen Howitzer cannons have been added to the military’s arsenal in the south. “Their arrival is in response to the clamor of the local government executives in the Region to stop the criminal and terrorist acts of the Communist party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army.”
“It has now become a pattern of the communist rebels to target business industries which provide jobs to our people and this has seriously threatened their livelihood. Thus, the augmentation of these troops to our line units, especially in the province of Compostela Valley, will pre-empt the continuous threat posed by these NPA criminals,” he said.
Compostela Valley is one of several provinces in Mindanao where the NPA rebels are actively operating. The NPA, which broke off peace talks with the Philippine government in 2004, is fighting the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
No comments:
Post a Comment