MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 13, 2010) – The Philippine military has signed up a partnership agreement with the business sector aimed at promoting peace and development in the countryside, officials said on Wednesday.
Officials said the Armed Forces of the Philippines thru the National Development Support Command signed a memorandum of understanding with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines.
“The joint partnership is aimed at providing services to people in the far flung villages and conflict areas in the country. At the level of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the memorandum of understanding is geared towards enhancing public and private sector partnership and provide best practices on local chamber advocacy and services in conjunction and in support to the National Development Support Command’s advocacy of community development in the countryside,” said Army Captain Emmanuel Garcia.
He said the partnership with Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry was signed by Major General Carlos Holganza, chief of the National Development Support Command, and Brigadier General Nonato Alfredo Peralta, chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Civil Military Operations; and Edwin Capili, president of Mindanao Chamber of Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry. And Eligio Miranda signed the memorandum of understanding in behalf of the Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines.
“This is the start of a collaboration and cooperation of the private sector and the Armed Forces in our mutual service to our people. Our partnership will embody the idea of ‘Bayanihan sa Barangay’ which will truly benefit our needy countrymen in far flung villages,” Holganza said.
He said a total of 1,691 peace and development projects were completed by National Development Support Command in the country. Among the projects were school buildings, farm-to-market roads, bridges and drainages.
“These worthwhile projects were made thru the peace and development initiatives of the government and genuine care of our soldiers who are peace builder for our people. Today, we are assured of a more caring and invigorated service with the presence of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines as our partners in peace and development,” Holganza said.
The National Development Support Command is the infrastructure and development arm of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It is also a unit dedicated to assist in disaster relief and rehabilitation, environmental protection and a multitude of non-combat roles.
“These worthwhile projects were made thru the peace and development initiatives of the government and genuine care of our soldiers who are peace builder for our people. Today, we are assured of a more caring and invigorated service with the presence of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines as our partners in peace and development,” Holganza said.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Philippine military partners with business groups to promote peace, development in countryside
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Philippine military bares completed peace, development projects
Officials said a total of 1,691 projects were completed from 2005 to 2010, mostly from the government’s Kalayaan sa Barangay Program which had been undertaken through the National Development Support Command.
Among the projects were school buildings, daycare and health centers, rural electrification, potable water system and farm-to-market roads. “Most of these projects were completed in cooperation and support of local government units, government agencies, nongovernment organizations and other stakeholders nationwide,” said According to Army Captain Emmanuel Garcia, of the National Development Support Command.
Garcia said 54 more infrastructure projects across the country are ongoing and nearing completion by military engineers.
He said Major General Carlos Holganza, commander of National Development Support Command, is happy with the projects because of the contribution of troops in nation- building.
“These worthwhile projects were made thru the peace and development initiatives of the government and genuine care of our peace builder-soldiers for our people,” Holganza said.
Of the total number of completed projects, 794 are in Luzon, 511 in the Visayas and 386 Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)
Friday, August 06, 2010
2 soldiers killed, 4 civilians wounded in Mindanao rebel attack
Officials said more than a dozen New People’s Army rebels opened fire on a group of tribesmen and soldiers traveling on motorcycles on their way to attend a forum in Colosas village in Paquibato district.
The leader of the tribesmen, Datu Ruben Labawan, of the Davao Supreme Tribal Council for Peace and Development, survived the ambush, but four of his companions were wounded.
“The soldiers were escorting the tribal leaders when rebels ambushed them, said Captain Emmanuel Garcia, a spokesman for The 10th Infantry Division. He said the soldiers fought back, but were overpowered by rebels and eventually killed.
The motive of the attack was unknown, but an army commander, Brigadier General Eduardo del Rosario, said rebels have previously murdered tribesmen and their leaders who refused illegal taxation. Others were abducted and killed for their refusals to join the rebel group.
“Tribal leaders fighting for the rights of their people are the usual targets for assassination of the NPA. This is a deplorable act and must be condemned by every sector of the society. Such evil deed of the NPA cements their reputation as a terror group and not a revolutionary one,” he said.
He said last month, rebels also abducted and executed tribal leader Kito Melody in Columbio town in Sultan Kudarat province after he resisted extortion and recruitment by the NPA in his village.
Last year, rebels also murdered dozens of tribesmen in Davao and Sultan Kudarat and the military claimed that from 1998 to 2008, some 357 tribesmen had been killed by the NPA in the region.
There was no immediate statement from the NPA about the allegations, but the rebel group is fighting for decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
Saturday, July 31, 2010
NPA rebels torch Dole trucks in Southern Philippines
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 31, 2010) – Communist insurgents torched five container vans in an attack Saturday in Compostela Valley province in the southern Philippines, officials said.
Officials said the vans were owned by Dole Philippine Incorporated, a subsidiary of Dole Food Company, the world’s largest producer and marketer of high-quality fresh fruits and vegetables, including cut flowers.
Captain Emmanuel Garcia, a spokesman for the 10th Infantry Division, said the attack occurred in the village of Camanlangan in New Bataan town.
“Reports reaching authorities state that about 15 fully armed men led by certain alias Ondo of Local Terrorist Front-27 of the New People’s Army were responsible in burning the containers owned by Dole-Stanfilco. Initial investigation conducted by authorities revealed that the motive is the refusal of Dole-Stanfilco to give-in to the terrorists’ extortion demand,” he said.
Dole-Stanfilco operates the banana plantation and exports the fruits to Japan, Korea, China, Hong, New Zealand and the Middle East.
Major General Carlos Holganza, a regional army commander, said the New People’s Army is engaged in extortion activities in Mindanao.
“This is another proof of the consistency of the terrorists’ decadent deeds in sabotaging our economy and making the people suffer. They do not recognize the right of the people to engage in free enterprise and they do not want our country to progress.”
“The only thing they are interested in is the money they can steal from legitimate businessmen, small enterprises and ordinary farmers. The NPA has proven once again that they are the biggest extortion syndicate in the country,” Holganza said.
He said rebel forces also torched farm trucks and construction equipment in the provinces the past months. “The NPA has been involved in many instances of burning of vehicles and facilities to include commuter buses, construction equipment, farm implements and business structures of individuals and companies which failed to give extortion money to the rebels,” he said.
On Friday, rebels also detonated two improvised explosives in Davao City and wounded four soldiers in Paquibato district. The twin attacks came a month after new Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said he would forge a cease-fire and resume peace talks with communist rebels.
Peace talks collapsed in 2004 after rebel leaders accused President Gloria Arroyo of reneging on several agreements, among them the release of all political prisoners languishing in jails and to put a stop to extrajudicial killings of political activists.
But the Communist Party of the Philippines warned the Aquino government against using the "immediate ceasefire" line as the premise for the resumption of formal peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
The Communist Party of the Philippines said it is ready to immediately resume formal peace negotiations based on previously agreed principles and agenda and without any preconditions. If Aquino insists on having peace talks premised on an immediate ceasefire, he will be reducing his peace declarations to empty rhetoric,” the CPP said.
“The CPP challenged Aquino to immediately commence negotiations and abide by previous agreements, including The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992 which sets the framework, principles, agenda and sequence of the peace negotiations,” it said.
“For the armed revolutionary forces, engaging in peace talks while their weapons are tied up violates the revolutionary principles and virtually holds us hostage. It would be foolish for us to expect to talk on fair and equal terms regarding life-and-death questions with the other side, when we have our arms dropped while the forces on other side have the barrels of their guns pointed at our heads.”
The rebels are fighting for decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Abducted German tourist freed in the Philippines
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 10, 2010) – A German tourist who was reported abducted in the southern Philippines had allegedly contacted his family to say that he was released by his captors, an army spokesman said Sunday.
Authorities have reported that Fier Medricat, whose father is living with a Filipino woman in Davao City, was taken by two armed on June 20 in Davao City’s Toril district.
Captain Emmanuel Garcia, of the 10th Infantry Division, said the German went to the village to visit his Filipino girlfriend, but got lost on his way and stayed in a house of a local villager.
Medricat’s girlfriend later told police that the foreigner sent her an SMS to say that he was taken by two men who said they were members of the communist New People’s Army rebels, who also took his money worth over P400,000.
Government troops also launched an operation to help the police in their investigation into the reported abduction. But Garcia said the foreigner’s family reported that Medricat was released and that he is now in Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur province.
“Police is investigating this case – whether Medricat was really freed or if he was really abducted or not, and if this has to do with family matters,” Garcia said without further elaborating.
Garcia would not say if rebels were involved in the abduction, although the New People’s Army is not known to target foreigners for ransom, but had warned it would attack US troops deployed in the restive region to help local soldiers defeat communist insurgents.
Gangsters and criminals had in the past posed as communist rebels to extort money from traders in the southern Philippines. The NPA is the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines which is waging a secessionist war the past four decades. (Mindanao Examiner)
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Philippine military tags NPA as terror group
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 6, 2010) – The Philippine military on Tuesday branded as propaganda claims by communist New People’s Army rebels that it is recruiting minors to help the government fight insurgents in Mindanao.
Captain Emmanuel Garcia, a regional army spokesman, said the allegations were baseless to hide the NPA’s continued violations of human rights on civilians and terror activities in the southern region.
The NPA accused the military of recruiting Juve Latiban (identified as Job by the military), then 16 years old, to be a member of the government militia group – Civilian Auxiliary Forces Geographical Unit - and fight insurgents.
Latiban and another soldier, Sergeant Bienvenido Arguelles, were seized by rebels on June 19 in the village of Upper Ulip in Compostela Valley’s Monkayo town and are being held as prisoners of war.
“The cat is finally out of the bag. Now it can be said without any shade of public doubt. That in its failed and defeated Operation Plan Bantay Laya II, the 10th Infantry Division of the Armed Forces of the Philippines recruits and arms minors as combat pawns in its war against the people and the revolutionary forces. That what it accuses the people's army of doing turns out to be a matter of official policy in its ranks, long practiced in their counter-revolutionary theater,” said Rigoberto Sanchez, a spokesman for the NPA’s Merardo Arce Command.
Sanchez said the military recruiter of Latiban provided him and 18 other minors with fake birth certificates to cover their real ages.
But Garcia turned the table on the rebel group and said: “The propaganda mill of the terrorists is working overtime after a rattled silence in their panic to divert the case from the real issue of kidnapping and trying to smokescreen their apparent inability to shield their armed front from the wrath of the people in view of their terror attacks against our citizens, against development, against progress and against our country.”
“The irony of all ironies has been let loose by kidnappers who want to deceive the people for the nth time and divert the issue of kidnapping to their irresponsible and baseless accusation that the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (member) they abducted is a minor. The allegation is a ploy to malign the Armed Forces as an institution together with government instrumentality and community organizations who certified that those who voluntarily joined the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit to watch over their communities are falsifiers.”
Garcia said members of the paramilitary force is a community watch group against rebels and criminal elements and that all volunteers pass through stringent screening to find out fraudulent applications.
“Volunteers are nominated by the Barangay (village) or Municipal Peace and Order Councils through a resolution and aside from the birth certificate, the certification of local officials as for their ages as well as the applicant’s good standing in the community is sought contrary to the communists’ recruitment tactic of hoodwink in deceiving the parents of the children whom they have recruited and put in harm’s way and deny the child warriors’ existence when they are captured, surrendered or worse, killed in combat,” he said.
Garcia said more than a dozen minors who were recruited by the NPA as rebels surrendered to the 10th Infantry Division since last year.
“All of them recruited, armed and manipulated by the NPA under the absolute order of the Communist Party of the Philippines in doing terror attacks against our own people,” he said, adding, the solid proof of a child warrior and a celebrated one at that is the case of Zaldy Canete alias Jinggoy, who surrendered to the military and admitted to have been recruited by the NPA at the age of 13 and at 16 was already fighting troops alongside veteran rebels in Compostela Valley province.
“Now, Job Latiban is being held against his will and is subjected to unimaginable torment of being abducted by a dreaded group that gained notoriety in killing people with total disregard to human rights and mass murder even of its own kind.”
“The pronouncement that Latiban attested that he is a minor is an offshoot of their systematic psychological torture against an individual under duress who might have been forced to accept a bitter choice than to suffer a deadly fate that has befallen so many God-fearing and service oriented troops whom they have abducted and mercilessly murdered in the guise of revolutionary justice like Sergeant Rolen Maglangit whom they killed in May 22 last year,” Garcia said.
Garcia said the rebels boast of a justice system where they are the prosecutor, the judge and the executioner rolled into one. He said no one can expect justice in such a mockery where cases are fabricated and the individual is forced to face a Kangaroo court against concocted pieces of evidence.
“Anyone under duress and subjected to such torment especially by a Godless terrorist organization like the Communist Party of the Philippines and its New People’s Army and National Democratic Front will admit anything and follow their every whim,” Garcia added.
The rebels are fighting the past four decades to topple the democratic government and establish a Maoist state in the country. Peace talks between Manila and the rebel group collapsed in 2004 after the CPP accused President Gloria Arroyo of reneging on several accords, among them the release of all political prisoners and the commitment to take steps to undo the inclusion of the CPP, NPA and NDF chief consultant Jose Maria Sison in the U.S. and other nations’ list of "foreign terrorists."
But new Filipino leader, Benigno Simeon Aquino III, said he will pursue peace talks with communist rebels in an effort to end bloody fighting in the Philippines.
The CPP said it would welcome new peace talks with Aquino and asked Manila to commit itself to all previous agreements, including The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992 which set the guiding principles, framework, agenda and procedures for the talks, the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.
It also urged the Aquino government to resolve the outstanding cases of abduction and enforced disappearance of NDF peace consultants, including Leo Velasco, Prudencio Calubid and Rogelio Calubad and their staff members and called for the immediate release of Eduardo Sarmiento, Eduardo Serrano, Glicerio Pernia, Angela Ipong, Jaime Soledad, Randy Malayao, Alfredo Mapano, Jovencio Balweg and other consultants who were arrested during the previous Arroyo regime and continue to languish in prisons.
Authorities said those arrested were notorious rebel leaders. (Mindanao Examiner)
Friday, July 02, 2010
Two soldiers wounded in NPA fighting in Davao City
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 2, 2010) – Two government soldiers were wounded in a firefight Friday with communist rebels in Davao City in the southern Philippines, officials said.
Officials said the fighting broke out after troops stormed a rebel encampment ran by the New People’s Army in the village of Sibulan in Toril District.
Army Captain Emmanuel Garcia, a spokesman for the 10th Infantry Division, quoting reports from the 84th Infantry Battalion, said the fighting lasted more than 30 minutes, but there were no reports of rebel casualties.
“A major encampment was discovered due to the presence of wooden bunkers and running trenches which made the entry of troops even harder. Government troops suffered two slightly wounded during the exchange of fire,” he said.
Garcia said: “The NPA, under the absolute control of the Communist Party of the Philippines, has been fighting the government for the last 41 years, but no significant gain was established due to its lack of people’s support and terrorist activities.” (Mindanao Examiner)
Thursday, July 01, 2010
3 wounded in NPA raid in Compostela Valley
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 1, 2010) – Communist rebels attacked a military patrol base wounding 3 people in the southern Philippines, an army spokesman said Thursday.
Captain Emmanuel Garcia, of the 10th Infantry Division, said some 50 rebels attacked the base late Wednesday in Compostela Valley’s Maragusan town. He said two soldiers and a civilian were wounded in the raid.
Troops fought the rebels – members of the New People’s Army - for more than half an hour until the attackers retreated on two trucks they earlier hijacked in the town, Garcia said. “Government soldiers recovered one of the trucks and pursuit operation is going on.”
Major General Carlos Holganza, commander of the 10th Infantry Division, said the rebels disregarded the safety of civilians when they attacked the patrol base. He said many civilians were near the base when rebels attacked.
The rebels are fighting for decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
Sunday, June 27, 2010
2 NPA rebels killed in new clashes in Mindanao
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 27, 2010) - Government troops killed two communist rebels in a clash Sunday in the southern Philippines, officials said.
Officials said soldiers also overran a rebel camp and recovered four improvised explosives following the fighting in Davao Oriental’s Cateel town. One soldier was wounded in the firefight, said Captain Emmanuel Garcia, a spokesman for the Army’s 10th Infantry Division.
He said troops clashed with about 50 New People’s Army rebels in the village of Aliwagwag after military forces raided the camp. He said troops also recovered six automatic rifles.
“Troops overran the encampment with 40 wooden bunkers and recovered four improvised explosive devices, four M-16 assault rifles and two carbine rifles,” he Garcia said.
The raid, he said, was part of an operation aimed at rescuing a soldier - Staff Sergeant Bienvenido Arguilles, of the 25th Infantry Battalion, and a government militia, Job Latiban – who are being held by rebels, but there were no signs of the two prisoners.
Garcia said the two hostages were seized June 19 in the village of Uper Ulip in Compostela Valley’s Monkayo town near the town of Cateel.
The rebels are fighting for decades now for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Troops arrest rogue soldier accused of killing civilian in Mindanao
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 23, 2010) – Philippine Army soldiers on Wednesday captured an infantryman - accused of killing a civilian and wounding of six others - after a firefight in the southern province of Compostela Valley, a military spokesman said.
Captain Emmanuel Garcia, of the 10th Infantry Division, said troops exchange gunfire with Sergeant Fredo Argueles after he fought soldiers sent to arrest him in connection to the Tuesday killing of a 49-year old man, Freddie Neri, in the village of Iloco Nuevo in Mawab town.
Argueles was wounded in the fighting and rushed to hospital.
He said Argueles, who was drank at the time of the shooting, fired his rifle indiscriminately in the village and killing Neri, after a heated argument with his wife late Tuesday.
He escaped after the shooting and was tracked down by soldiers the next day hiding at a banana plantation.
“Reports showed that at about 11:50 p.m. of June 22, a drunken Argueles and his wife were having heated arguments and in the course of the dispute, Argueles took his M14 rifle, walked out of their hut and fired his weapon directed outside while walking out of the (army) detachment,” Garcia told the Mindanao Examiner.
Lieutenant Colonel Norman Zuniega, commander of the 72nd Infantry Battalion, whose unit ordered to hunt down Argueles, said they have tried to convince the infantryman to surrender peacefully, but it failed.
“We had tried everything to make him surrender peacefully. We encouraged him to lay down his weapon so that he can face his case in the proper court, but he fired at the troops. We want him to surrender peacefully, but we are also prepared to use force to subdue and arrest him so that he can face justice and put him in jail if found guilty,” he said.
Major General Carlos Holganza, the regional army commander, sent a team of soldiers and accompanied by village officials and religious leaders to Neri’s family and other victims of the shootings and offered help.
“We are deeply saddened by the turn of events and we condole with the victim’s family. We understand that any help extended will not bring back the life of the victim but we will make necessary arrangements to alleviate the sufferings of the family of Neri and of other victims. Our troops have arrested the suspect and we will make sure that he will face the full force of the law. We will not tolerate crimes perpetrated by anyone, even one of our own. Rest assured that justice will be served.”
“The swift action of the troops shows that we are serious in our task to put criminals behind bars. We will see to it that justice prevails even if the perpetrators were our own men; and especially if they were our own men.” Holganza said. (Mindanao Examiner)
Monday, June 21, 2010
German tourist abducted in South RP
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 21, 2010) РA German tourist who was to see his Filipino fianc̩e was reported to have been abducted in Davao City in the southern Philippines, authorities said Monday.
Authorities said Fier Medricat, whose father is living with another Filipino woman in Davao City, was taken on Sunday by two men in Toril, a village where communist rebels are actively operating.
Medricat’s girlfriend told police that the foreigner sent her an SMS to say that he was taken by two men who said they were members of the communist New People’s Army rebels. He said the men also took his money worth over P400,000.
The woman, niece of the Filipino wife of Medricat’s father, reported the matter to the authorities.
She said Medricat was supposed to meet her on Saturday in the village, but the foreigner told her that he was lost in Toril and stayed with a woman in the village whom he identified only as Mama.
Government troops also launched an operation to help the police in their investigation into the reported abduction.
“Soldiers from the 69th Infantry Battalion mounted a complimentary operation in Toril to help police investigating the reported abduction of Fier Medricat,” said Army Captain Emmanuel Garcia, a spokesman for the 10th Infantry Division.
Garcia would not say if rebels were really involved in the abduction, although the New People’s Army is not known to target foreigners for ransom, but had warned it would attack US troops deployed in the restive region to help local soldiers defeat communist insurgents.
Gangsters and criminals had in the past posed as communist rebels to extort money from traders in the southern Philippines. The NPA is the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines which is waging a secessionist war the past four decades. (Mindanao Examiner)
Friday, June 18, 2010
3 cops wounded in rebel attack in South RP
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 18, 2010) – Communist rebels attacked a group of policemen Friday and wounding three in the southern Philippines, officials said.
Officials said as many as five New People’s Army rebels were either killed or wounded in the fighting after a failed raid on a police station in Davao Oriental’s Cateel town.
Army Captain Emmanuel Garcia, a spokesman for the 10th Infantry Division, said at least 40 rebels were involved in the fighting.
“The NPAs were seen dragging at least five of their companions who might be dead or wounded as they fled for safety,” he said, adding, security forces recovered one of two trucks the rebels used in escaping.
He said the trucks were earlier stolen by rebels.
The NPA is the military wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines which have been fighting for decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
NPA rebels free 4 POWs in South RP
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 15, 2010) – The New People’s Army rebels have freed Tuesday three soldiers and a government militia after almost a month in captivity, a spokesman for the Maoist group said.
The four - Army Corporals Marcial Bawagan, Ariel Asumo, Eduardo Alcala and Victor Pitogo - were taken prisoners in the town of Mawab in Compostela Valley on May 12.
Anvil Guinto, a spokesman for the rebel’s Crucifino Uballas command, said the release of the prisoners came after their families appealed to the NPA to free the four men who are being accused of violating human rights of civilians in the province.
“The release is in recognition of the appeals made by the families, religious groups and personalities, well-meaning individuals and progressive groups on their behalf,” he said. ”The NPA accords the released POWs the chance to conduct themselves in a manner respectful of the people's rights and the international laws of war. Their arrest and subsequent detention should also serve as a warning to officers and elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police and their intelligence and paramilitary units.”
The Army’s 10th Infantry Division where the soldiers belonged confirmed the release of the four men in the village of Santa Teresa in Compostela Valley’s Maco town.
“Their (rebels) claim of humanitarian consideration in releasing the victims is far-fetched from the truth as they were the ones who put their victims in deep peril disregarding the circumstances when they feloniously and maliciously kidnapped the victims while attending a child’s birthday party,” said Army Captain Emmanuel Garcia, a spokesman for the 10th Infantry Division.
“The victims’ release proves the undeniable culpability of the NPA and its puppet master the Communist Party of the Philippines in concocting crimes against innocent people. It also outlines the NPA’s sheer violation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect to Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law and pertinent laws of the land,” Garcia said.
He said the freed soldiers were taken to hospital for routine examination and would undergo debriefing later.
Last week, the rebels warned troops to stay away from near their bases as not to endanger the lives of the prisoners after the military launched massive operations to rescue the hostages.
The rebels are fighting the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (With a report from Geo Solmerano)
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Maoist rebel leader falls in Mindanao
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 12, 2010) – A senior leader of the communist rebel group New People’s Army was arrested at a military checkpoint in the southern Philippines, security officials announced on Saturday.
Officials said the rebel leader, Mario Cabatlao, is the Secretary of the Local Terrorist Front-15 of the New People’s Army in Mindanao. He was arrested Friday afternoon in the village of Madaum in Tagum City where military and policemen put-up the checkpoint after receiving reports that Cabatlao would pass in the area.
“A fragmentation grenade and an improvised explosive were recovered from Maria Cabatlao,” said Army Captain Emmanuel Garcia, a spokesman for the 10th Infantry Division.
He said Cabatlao is facing multiple murder charges and was linked to many killings in the towns of Baganga, Manay, Caraga and Taragona, all in Davao Oriental province where rebel forces staged attacks against government troops and civilians in recent years.
Major General Carlos Holganza, commander of the 10th Infantry Division, praised the arrest of the rebel leader and vowed to continue government operations aimed at defeating communist insurgency in Mindanao.
“We take pride in the efforts and patience of our soldiers and policemen who painstakingly took it upon themselves that justice for our people will be served. May this bring warning to all criminals, murderers, kidnappers and bandits like the New People’s Army that the long arm of the law will eventually catch-up with you and your crimes will not go unpunished,” Holganza said.
Cabatlao is the third rebel leader captured by authorities since early this year in Mindanao.
Rebel commander Zaldy Canete, who was recruited at the age of 13 to become a senior New People’s Army leader, had been captured in January in Davao del Norte province.
Another rebel leader, Renelo Creita, who was tagged by the military as behind ambush of soldiers and civilians in Compostela Valley province last month, also fell in the hands of the military and police last month. Both Canete and Creita are also facing multiple murder charges in connection with the rebel attacks in the provinces.
The New People’s Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, is fighting for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Geo Solmerano contributed to this report)
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Rebels abduct, execute 2 in South RP
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 10, 2010) – Maoist rebels abducted and killed two people in separate attacks in the southern Philippines where troops are fighting to end communist insurgency in the restive region, the military said on Thursday.
It said New People’s Army rebels seized Alfredo Mia in Davao City’s Paquibato District and that his body was found later on Tuesday in the village of Fatima.
Army Captain Emmanuel Garcia, a spokesman for the 10th Infantry Division, said the 57-year old Mia was an NPA member who was executed by his own group for a still unknown reason.
“The NPA is notoriously known for murdering former rebels or those who surrendered to the government and others who go against or question the undemocratic or criminal policies of the underground Communist Party of the Philippines,” he said.
Garcia blamed NPA leader Leoncio Pitao to the killing of Mia.
He said rebels also abducted on Tuesday a village leader, Kito Melody, in Sultan Kudarat’s Columbio town. Melody’s corpse was peppered with bullets and recovered by soldiers in the village of Maligaya later in the day.
Melody’s companion, Eldie Banawag, a government militia, managed to escape and reported the attack to the military. Banawag told the military that rebels barged in the house of Melody and seized the village leader at gunpoint.
There was no immediate statement from the NPA about the military reports.
The army spokesman said that in 2009 alone, the NPA murdered at least 83 people in Southern Mindanao and that 52 of those mercilessly killed were innocent civilians.
The NPA is fighting the past four decades for the establishment of a communist state in the country. Peace talks with Manila collapsed in 2004 after rebel leaders accused President Gloria Arroyo of reneging on several agreements, among them was the unconditional release of political prisoners languishing in jails without formal criminal charges. (Mindanao Examiner)
Thursday, June 03, 2010
NPA rebels kill army militia in Southern Philippines
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 3, 2010) – Communist insurgents killed a government militiaman and wounded another in an attack Thursday in the southern Philippines, officials said.
Officials said the fighting occurred in the village of Salvacion in Compostela Valley’s Mawab town. The militiaman was killed in a bomb attack by the New People’s Army, which is fighting for decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country.
The second militia was wounded when he clashed with insurgents, said Army Captain Emmanuel Garcia, a spokesman for the 10th Infantry Division. “One government militia was killed in the terrorist attack,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.
On Wednesday, insurgents also wounded a government soldier in fighting in Maco town also in Compostela Valley province, a known stronghold of the New People’s Army.
The military launched fresh offensive this week in the restive region against the insurgents blamed for the spate of attacks that had killed and wounded dozens of soldiers and civilians.
The New People’s Army is the armed wing of the underground Communist Party of the Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
2 rebels killed in new military campaign in Mindanao
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 1, 2010) – Filipino soldiers clashed with communist rebels on Tuesday, killing at least two gunmen, in Davao City in the restive region of Mindanao, officials said.
Officials said the fighting broke out in the village called Manuel Guianga in Tugbok District after troops launched offensives against the New People’s Army. One soldier was also wounded in the fighting.
“At least two NPA rebels are dead and one of our soldiers is wounded in the fighting this afternoon in Tugbok District. We also recovered an M16 automatic rifle, night vision goggle, a pair of binoculars and an improvised explosive device left behind by dissident terrorists,” said Army Captain Emmanuel Garcia, a spokesman for the 10th Infantry Division.
He said the fighting erupted at around 1 p.m. and sporadic clashes continued later in the day. “Sporadic clashes are ongoing,” he said.
There was no immediate statement from the NPA, the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines which has been waging a secessionist war for decades now.
Security forces launched offensives against the rebels n several provinces in Mindanao as part of a new campaign aimed at weakening communist insurgency in the mineral-rich, but troubled southern region. (Mindanao Examiner)
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Roadside bombing kills soldiers, 7 more wounded in South RP
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 30, 2010) – Communist rebels killed a government soldier and wounded seven more in a firefight in Davao City in the southern Philippines, officials said Sunday.
Officials said the soldier was killed when a roadside bomb exploded in Sibulan village in Toril District on Saturday. The soldiers were pursuing New People’s Army rebels when the bomb exploded.
“The death of our soldier only embolden the rest of the fighting troops to strive without let-up in bringing to justice those responsible in the attacks against the people,” said Army Captain Emmanuel Garcia, a spokesman for the 10th Infantry Division.
He said troops had clashed with rebels three times earlier in the day after villagers tipped off the military about the presence of insurgents in the area.
“Our troops suffered casualties due to the improvised explosive device which the terrorist blew-up along the way. The use of IED by the NPA shows their treacherous method as a terrorist organization. It is an utter disregard to the safety of non-combatants to place IED along the way where ordinary people might get hurt as in many previous incidents in the region attest,” Garcia said.
The NPA is fighting for decades now for the establishment of a separate Maoist state in the country. Peace talks with manila had collapsed in 2004 after the NPA, the military wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Top NPA leader in deadly attacks captured in Mindanao
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 25, 2010) – Philippine security forces captured a senior communist rebel leader tagged as behind deadly attacks in the restive southern region of Mindanao.
Security officials said Renelo Creita had been captured on May 22 in Davao del Norte’s Santo Tomas town. His arrest was made public only on Tuesday because of continued operations aimed at capturing other rebels.
The 41-year old rebel leader allegedly admitted leading New People’s Army attacks in Compostela Valley province that left dozens of people dead and wounded since last year.
Army Captain Emmanuel Garcia, a spokesman for the 10th Infantry Division, said Creita was also behind the ambush of poll inspectors in Compostela Valley’s Maragusan town on May 11 that left five people dead and a dozen soldiers wounded.
“Creita is behind the spate of terror attacks against innocent people in Compostela Valley province. He is facing a string of criminal charges,” Garcia said.
He said Creita was arrested at a military road block and that soldiers recovered a .45-caliber pistol and a hand grenade from the rebel leader. Creita did not resist arrest, he said.
Garcia gave no other details about the arrest.
There was no immediate statement from the New People’s Army about Creita’s arrest. The rebels are fighting for decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
3 soldiers killed, 5 wounded in rebel attacks in Mindanao
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 25, 2010) – Three government soldiers were killed and five more wounded in a firefight with communist rebels in the southern Philippines, officials said Tuesday.
Officials said the fighting broke out in the village of Maputi in Davao Oriental’s Banaybanay town where New People’s Army rebels also attacked government road project on Monday.
Captain Emmanuel Garcia, a spokesman for the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, said the soldiers were guarding the road project when rebels attacked them. “We value the sacrifice of our troops from the 28th Infantry Battalion securing the Mati-Tagum road project who fought back in order to protect the interest of the people,” he said.
He said the rebels fled after the attacks, commandeering three dump trucks and using its drivers as shield from pursuing troops. He said the rebels freed one of the drivers, but held on to the others to help them carry their dead and wounded.
Garcia said the rebel attack was triggered by the failure of the construction firm, Maverick, to pay illegal taxes to the New People’s Army, which has been waging a secessionist war for many decades now.
“Such brutality is intended to sow fear and panic among our people and coerce them to support their large-scale extortion syndicate and prohibit our citizens from cooperating with authorities. Their increased level of attacks not only to soldiers, but against non-combatants is a ploy to force helpless people to bow down to their oppressive anti-people and anti development policy particularly in the countryside which reveals that they are not fighting for any ideology at all,” Garcia said.
But a rebel spokesman, Simon Santiago, said the attack was aimed at a military patrol base in the village. He said rebels raided the patrol base and seized at least 11 high-powered weapons, including machineguns and grenade launchers.
“A composite team of the New People's Army's 3rd Pulang Bagani Company and Front 18 Operations Command in Southern Mindanao raided the 28th Infantry Battalion patrol base. Three were instantly killed and four were wounded on the enemy side, while two surrendered and were freed by the Red fighters,” he said.
The rebel attacks came a day after the military deployed hundreds of soldiers in Davao Oriental province to augment thousands of troops battling communist insurgency in the restive region. (Mindanao Examiner)