It said the attack was part of an offensive against troops deployed in Paquibato District, a known stronghold of NPA rebels. The attack occurred at around 6 a.m., but it was not immediately known whether any of the soldiers were killed or wounded.
Army officials said rebels harassed troops involved in humanitarian works in Paquibato District. “The rebels have been harassing us, but we will still continue our peace and development projects and the people are on our side,” said Lieutenant Medel Aguilar, a spokesman for the Army’s 10th Infantry Division based in Davao City.
Rigoberto Sanchez, a spokesman for the NPA’s Merardo Arce Command, said the attack was carried out as a punishment against the Army’s 1003rd Infantry Brigade whose soldiers have been deployed in Paquibato to ensure the unhampered exploration of mining firms.
Sanchez said rebel forces attacked troops in two villages - Paquibato Proper and Paradise Embac – and he also claimed responsibility for an earlier attack against army soldiers in Fatima village also in Paquibato District.
He said rebels launched 10 attacks against government troops in Paquibato since July.
But Aguilar said the soldiers were working on peace and development projects in Paquibato. He accused the rebels of sabotaging humanitarian projects in Paquibato.
Sanchez said the current and unrelenting military combat operations are part of the 10th Infantry Division’s “peace and development buzzword designed to sow terror among the communities, silence the dissenters and pave the way for the entry of corporate mining in Davao City and nearby provinces.”
Paquibato is an area where mining firms wanted to operate and Sanchez said since last year, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau has been processing at least 11 applications to mine in more than 95,000 hectares in the mineral-rich mountain of Davao City, Davao del Norte province and as far as Bukidnon. More than half of these applications are in Paquibato, he said.
He said the Alberto Mining Corporation plans to mine 16,200 hectares in Paquibato and Malabog; another company named Superfield is set to open 6,874 hectares in Lumiad and Mapula, all in Paquibato, and Mambusao Mining also wanted to operate in the 15,660 hectares mountain area in Davao City.
“These corporate encroachments protected by the 10th Infantry Division’s heavy-combat operations have endangered peasant lives and livelihood. It will eventually devastate the environment and plunder our national patrimony,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez also accused the military of staging so-called dialogues with villagers in Paquibato to mask its compulsory meetings where people are subjected to psychological warfare to force them to renounce the revolutionary movement, and organize “Barangay Defense System” that turn civilians into pawns and convenient shields against NPA attacks.
“These AFP operations have resulted to grave crimes against the masses whose rights were violated one after the other with impunity. In less than three months, almost a thousand individuals in Paquibato were victims of state fascism that included the murders of civilians Julius Tamondes and Reynaldo Labrador,” he said, adding, the military’s peace and development mantra is a smokescreen for intense combat operations and violations to international humanitarian law – all at the service of big business.
The NPA is the armed wing of the outlawed Communist party of the Philippines which has been fighting for decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
NPA rebels attack troops in humanitarian projects in Mindanao
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Two captives free at last in Mindanao
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 21, 2010) - A Philippine soldier held by communist rebels and a son of a top election official kidnapped by gunmen were freed separately by their captors in Mindanao, police and military said on Wednesday.
It said New People’s Army rebels on Tuesday released Sergeant Bienvenido Arguelles, who was captured on June 19 in Monkayo town in Compostela Valley province. The rebels earlier freed a government militia Juve Latiban, who was seized together with Arguelles at a checkpoint in the village of Upper Ulip.
The rebels said they freed the prisoner due to humanitarian considerations.
“The decision to release prisoner of war Arguelles is based on humanitarian considerations. It is in compliance with the revolutionary movement’s long-standing policy of lenient treatment of POWs and its serious adherence to the National Democratic Front of the Philippines’ Declaration of Undertaking to Apply the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Protocol 2 of 1977. By releasing him and other POWs on this ground, the revolutionary movement is giving chance for human rights and the international humanitarian law to be respected at all times,” said Rigoberto Sanchez, a rebel spokesman.
He said the arrest of Arguelles should serve as a warning to all members of the military and the police who commit incursions into guerilla bases especially those who conduct intelligence operations against the NPA and its supporters.
“It should also serve as warning to those who serve as protectors of large-scale, environmentally destructive and exploitative foreign and local firms under the pretext of Investment Defense Force and peace and development projects, especially that the Diwalwal mining area in Monkayo town is up for total sell-out,” Sanchez said, referring to the large-scale mining activities in Mount Diwalwal in Monkayo town.
Police said kidnappers also released unharmed Nuraldin Yusoph, 22, on Monday in Misamis Oriental province after a month in captivity.
Yusoph, son of Commissioner Elias Yusoph, was seized on June 20 outside a mosque in Marawi City. His abductors originally demanded that the Commission on Elections annul the results of the recent polls in at least four towns - Malabang, Taraka, Pikong and Masiu - in Lanao del Sur in exchange for the safe release of the hostage, but later asked P25 million for his freedom.
Police said no ransom was paid for Yusoph’s release.
Last week, security forces killed the leader of Yusoph’s kidnappers, Dimaporo Dimasacal alias Commander Delta. Officials said soldiers were pursuing the gang when they caught up with them in the village of Aleem Rayah Karamian in Lanao del Sur’s Masiu town and killed its leader.
Dimasacal was also tagged as behind the ambush last week of a group of soldiers in Gata village in Poona Bayabao town, also in Lanao del Sur, killing an infantryman and a civilian. (With a report from Becky de Asis and Geo Solmerano)
Friday, July 16, 2010
NPA rebels free arrested militia, but held on to captured army soldier in Mindanao
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 16, 2010) – Philippine Maoist rebels freed Friday a government militia they captured last month in Compostela Valley province in Mindanao.
The militia, Juve Latiban, was arrested at a rebel checkpoint on June 19 along with an army soldier, Sergeant Bienvenido Arguelles, in the village of Upper Ulip in Monkayo town. The fate of the soldier is still unknown.
The rebels, who belong to the New People’s Army, said Latiban was only 17 years old when recruited by the military to fight insurgents.
“Juve Latiban, the minor recruited as combatant by the 10th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, was turned over by the Conrado Heredia Command of the New People’s Army to his family. In line with the international rules of war, specifically because of his age of minority, the New People’s Army did not consider him a prisoner of war,” said Rigoberto Sanchez, a rebel spokesman.
Sanchez accused the 10th Infantry Division of recruiting and arming minors as “combat pawns” in its war against the New People’s Army. He said Latiban was one of 18 minors recruited by the military in 2008 as members of the Civilian Auxiliary Force Geographical Unit.
“By facilitating his return to his family, the New People’s Army corrects the serious and long running misconduct and violation of international humanitarian law committed by the 10th Infantry Division pertaining to the recruitment of minors for AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) combat duties. While the AFP, by deliberate and deceitful design, made a combatant out of Juve Latiban and 18 other minors from a single batch of CAFGU in 2008 alone, the NPA made concrete steps to allow him to revert to civilian status,” Sanchez said.
He said Latiban, identified by the military as Job, was recruited in October 2008 by Private First Class Alvin Latiban in Monkayo town in Compostela Valley.
“Together with his batch mates that included 18 other minors, they underwent 45-day training at the 1001st Infantry Brigade headquarters in Tuburan (village) in Mawab town in Compostela Valley,” Sanchez said, quoting from information provided by the arrested militia.
Sanchez said the militia also told the NPA that they were provided fake birth certificates which stated they were already 18 years old when recruited by the military as militias.
Army Captain Emmanuel Garcia, a spokesman for the 10th Infantry Division, denied the accusations of the New People’s Army which is fighting for decades now for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (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)
Sunday, July 04, 2010
NPA accuses Philippine military of recruiting minors to fight rebels
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 4, 2010) – The communist New People’s Army rebels have accused the Philippine military of continuously recruiting minors to fight insurgents in Mindanao.
The NPA said it arrested a 17-year old militia who was recruited by government soldiers to fight rebel forces in Compostela Valley province.
“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.
Oplan Bantay Laya refers to the codename of the government’s anti-insurgency operations in the country.
Sanchez said the militia, Juve Latiban, who is a member of the Civilian Auxiliary Force Geographical Unit of the Philippine Army, was arrested at a rebel checkpoint last month.
“Born on October 7, 1992, Juve Latiban was not even 16 years old when recruited in October 2008 by Private First Class Alvin Latiban of Upper Ulip (village) in Monkayo town in Compostela Valley.”
“Together with his batch mates that included 18 other minors, they underwent 45-day training at the 1001st Infantry Brigade headquarters in Tuburan (village) in Mawab town in Compostela Valley,” Sanchez said, quoting from information provided by the arrested militia.
He said the militia also told the NPA that they were provided fake birth certificates which stated they were already 18 years old when recruited by the military as militias.
“Juve Latiban attested that he and the 18 other minors in his batch were given fake birth certificates by Private First Class Latiban. His own bogus birth certificate showed that he was born on 1990 instead of the factual 1992 so that it would appear that he was already 18 at the time of his training.”
“He confessed that the 72nd Infantry Battalion trainers knew their actual ages. His first assignment was at the Philippine Army detachment in Upper Ulip in Monkayo. Private First Class Latiban is now assigned in the 10th Infantry Division,” Sanchez said.
The NPA said the militia is only temporarily under custody and would be released as soon as government troops pull out from areas where rebel forces are actively operating in the province.
Aside from Latiban, rebel forces are also holding Sergeant Bienvenido Arguelles who was seized June 19 in the village of Uper Ulip in Compostela Valley’s Monkayo town.
The rebels are fighting for decades now for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
Thursday, June 10, 2010
NPA orders release of captured soldiers, militia in Southern Philippines
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 10, 2010) – The New People’s Army ordered rebel forces on Thursday to free three government soldiers and a militiaman captured in the southern Philippines.
Communist rebels are holding Army Corporals Marcial Bawagan, Ariel Asumo, Eduardo Alcala and Victor Pitogo, a government militia. They were taken prisoners in the town of Mawab in Compostela Valley on May 12 and being investigated on charges of human rights violations and counter-revolutionary campaign in the province.
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.
Rigoberto Sanchez, a spokesman for the NPA’s Merardo Arce Command, said there is a probable cause to hold the prisoners longer, but the rebel group has considered the appeals made their families for the safe release of the soldiers and militiaman.
“However, in consideration of the humanitarian appeals for their release, the MAC-NPA has ordered the NPA custodial unit to release Prisoners of War Corporal Marcial B. Bawagan (SN#794130), Corporal Ariel P. Asumo (SN#803445), Corporal Eduardo Alcala (SN#806489) and Civilian Active Auxiliary (member) Victor Pitogo (SN#006279) subject to the actual military situation on the ground,” Sanchez said.
Government troops mounted fresh operations to rescue the hostages, but it was unknown whether the military would order a halt in the efforts to recover the four men.
The NPA earlier warned troops to stay away from near their stronghold as not to endanger the lives of the prisoners.
“This utmost concern is currently being considered by the NPA so as to ensure the safe and orderly undertaking of the release. Major General Carlos Holganza must come to his senses, and face the fact that 10th Infantry Division operations have failed and order a suspension of military operations in the areas of Pantukan, Mabini, Maco and Mawab,” Sanchez said, referring to the towns where military operations are going on.
He said: “As it is now, only the 10th Infantry Division's continuing, but failed military operation, stands in the way of the fulfillment of the NPA's humanitarian act that will effect the return of the prisoners of war to their families.”
The rebels are fighting the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
NPA Rebels Hit Back On AFP Reports About Leader
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 1, 2009) – Philippine communist rebels branded as propaganda a military report linking a senior guerrilla leader on sex scandals and money laundering activities in Mindanao.
Army Colonel Daniel Lucero, commander of the Civil-Military Operations Group, said Leoncio Pitao, head of the New People’s Army’s Pulang Bagani Command, had abused several women rebels and siphoned off funds collected from extortion activities in the southern Philippines.
Lucero said the report on Pitao, whose nom de guerre is Kumander Parago, came from former rebels who had surrendered to the government in recent years. “The accounts here were revealed by Parago’s former followers who are now working with the government to restore the wellbeing of our nation which is being wrecked by a noxious social
belief,” he said.
The NPA said: “The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has just made official its policy of adding another dimension to its counterrevolutionary war under the mantle of the Arroyo regime’s Enhanced National Internal Security Plan notoriously known as Oplan Bantay Laya II or OBL II. Shortly after General Victor Ibrado hinted about adding new parameters to its counter-insurgency program - citing the difficulties encountered in achieving its mid-2010 goals - the AFP’s black propaganda machinery took off with its rehashed vilification campaign against leaders of the revolutionary movement.”
Ibrado is the AFP Chief-of-Staff.
“The new dimension General Ibrado was talking about - it came to pass - was directly concocted out of the latest showbiz scandal that has since pre-occupied the national mass media. Taking cue from his higher ups, Colonel Daniel Lucero of the Philippine Army’s Civil Military Operations Group presented his own sex scandal and corruption expose, against Leoncio “Ka Parago” Pitao, Red commander of the NPA’s 1st Pulang Bagani Company in Southern Mindanao,” Rigoberto Sanchez, a rebel spokesman, said in a statement.
Lucero said Pitao was also charged and found guilty of embezzling NPA funds, mostly extortion money collected from businesses in Mindanao. He also alleged that Pitao’s son molested female NPA members.
“Aside from all those sexual molestation charges, Parago was also found guilty by the Communist Party of the Philippines of pocketing NPA funds. Despite of the disciplinary actions imposed on him, he still retained his command – the Pulang Bagani. And as revealed by his former followers, Leoncio Pitao pockets an average of five million pesos at least every quarter of the year and these came from extortion activities - from different business establishments in Davao area - which he embezzles for his personal use. His family is reportedly living in affluence.”
“In a similar fashion, CTL Ryan Pitao, a son of Parago, was also revealed to have sexually molested a number of female members of the Pulang Bagani Command, which Parago is said to be tolerating,” Lucero said.
But the NPA branded the accusations as an “ill-conceived character assassination.”
“For all intents and purposes, Colonel Lucero’s exposé is nothing but a lowest level type of an ill-conceived character assassination scheme. AFP psychological operation run alongside its murderous campaign of OBL-mandated extrajudicial killing that has victimized hundreds of activists, unarmed civilians and non-combatants that included Ka Parago’s daughter Rebelyn,” Sanchez said.
Pitao’s daughter was abducted in Davao City on March 4. Her naked body was found the next day floating in a shallow creek in the village of San Isidro in Davao del Norte’s Carmen town. Her family said the woman’s body bore torture marks and was believed raped.
The NPA accused soldiers and civilian informants linked to the brutal killing of the woman and had already killed four of them - Ruben Bitang, Macky Estremos, Marcelino Payot and Bobong Gambuta. The military denied it was behind Pitao’s murder.
“It is quite clear that the AFP has had utilized all imaginable combat, intelligence and special operations against units and leaders of the NPA. They have killed many leaders and members of militant and progressive organizations and continue to place an even larger number in the AFP Order of Battle. Thus, Colonel Lucero’s cheap propaganda gimmick comes as no surprise as he merely rides on a crest of widespread public attention generated by the latest scandal to rock the Philippine entertainment scene,” Sanchez said.
“Colonel Lucero of the AFP top brass would be well-advised if they look into the endemic corruption that is a plague in the AFP organization. The Filipino people are convinced that a cabal of AFP generals are lording it over the AFP, siphoning public funds to their pockets as has been credibly revealed during the Oakwood Mutiny and the recent Western Mindanao Command corruption as disclosed by Navy Lt. SG Nancy Gadian, among others,” he further said.
Gadian has accused senior military officials of pocketing funds intended for a joint US-Philippine military exercises in Mindanao. The military said it is investigating Gadian’s allegations, but also ordered her arrest after she spoke to the media about corruption in the AFP.
Sanchez said:”Gloria Arroyo and her husband Mike Arroyo jointly command the biggest corruption syndicate in the country is no longer news to the people; it only further inflames the people’s rage and steels their resolve to oust the fake and hated president in conjunction with the armed revolutionary struggle. No amount of AFP black propaganda against the people’s army and its leaders could deter its steady advance.”
The NPA, armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, has been fighting the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Philippine Military Shows Desperation In Latest Propaganda, Says NPA Rebels
Campaign against Ka Parago, a showcase of AFP Desperation.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has just made official its policy of adding another dimension to its counterrevolutionary war under the mantle of the Arroyo regime’s Enhanced National Internal Security Plan notoriously known as Oplan Bantay Laya II or OBL II. Shortly after Gen. Victor Ibrado hinted about “adding new parameters” to its “counter-insurgency” program —- citing the difficulties encountered in achieving its mid-2010 goals -- the AFP’s black propaganda machinery took off with its rehashed vilification campaign against leaders of the revolutionary movement.
The new dimension Gen. Ibrado was talking about, it came to pass, was directly concocted out of the latest showbiz scandal that has since pre-occupied the national mass media. Taking cue from his higher ups, Col. Daniel Lucero of the Philippine Army’s Civil Military Operations Group presented his own “sex scandal and corruption expose,” against Leoncio “Ka Parago” Pitao, Red commander of the NPA’s 1st Pulang Bagani Company in Southern Mindanao.
It is quite clear that the AFP has had utilized all imaginable combat, intelligence and special operations against units and leaders of the NPA. They have killed many leaders and members of militant and progressive organizations and continue to place an even larger number in the AFP Order of Battle. Thus, Col. Lucero’s cheap propaganda gimmick comes as no surprise as he merely rides on a crest of widespread public attention generated by the latest scandal to rock the Philippine entertainment scene.
For all intents and purposes, Col. Lucero’s “expose” is nothing but a lowest level type of an ill-conceived character assassination scheme. AFP psychological operation run alongside its murderous campaign of OBL-mandated extrajudicial killing that has victimized hundreds of activists, unarmed civilians and non-combatants that included Ka Parago’s daughter Rebelyn.
This latest smear campaign only succeeds in showcasing heights of desperation that has shaken the AFP as a result of the monumental failure of Oplan Bantay Laya 1 and 2.
Col. Lucero of the AFP top brass would be well-advised if they look into the endemic corruption that is a plague in the AFP organization. The Filipino people are convinced that a cabal of AFP generals is lording it over the AFP, siphoning public funds to their pockets as has been credibly revealed during the Oakwood Mutiny and the recent Western Mindanao Command corruption as disclosed by Navy Lt. SG Nancy Gadian, among others.
That Gloria Arroyo and her husband Mike Arroyo jointly command the biggest corruption syndicate in the country is no longer news to the people; it only further inflames the people’s rage and steels their resolve to oust the fake and hated president in conjunction with the armed revolutionary struggle. No amount of AFP black propaganda against the people’s army and its leaders could deter its steady advance.
Rigoberto F. Sanchez
Merardo Arce Command
Southern Mindanao Regional Operations Command
New People’s Army
Video From Al Jazeera Television
The New People's Army has been fighting for a communist state in Philippines since 1968 in a campaign that has cost more than 40,000 lives. In the first of two special reports from the island of Luzon, Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas finds out why the fighting has been going on for so long.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Troops occupy NPA camp in Mindanao
Officials said civilians provided intelligence that led to the capture of the rebel camp in the village of Napnapan in Compostela Valley’s Pantukan town.
Army rangers swooped down on the base and engaged the rebels in a running gun battle, said Captain Rose Maria Cristina Manuel, a spokeswoman for the Army’s 10th Infantry Division.
She said a still undetermined number of rebels were either killed or wounded in the fighting and none of the military side.
“We have recovered one M14 and three more M16 rifles in the camp,” she told the Mindanao Examiner. “The combat operation was in response to the presence of NPA rebels in the area who were extorting money from poor and hapless villagers, including business industries. The operation is still going on.”
The capture of the camp came three days after the NPA raided a mining firm in the village of Masara on Maco town. The rebels seized five automatic rifles from policemen guarding the Apex Mining Corporation.
Prior to the raid, rebels also ambushed a police patrol and killed seven people, said Rigoberto Sanchez, an NPA spokesman.
Last week, NPA fighters also executed a government soldier - Staff Sergeant Rolen Maglangit, of the 36th Infantry Battalion - they captured in Compostela Valley. They also killed a former army soldier, Dante Villa, in Davao del Sur province.
Officials also accused the NPA of killing innocent civilians on mere suspicion of aiding the military in its anti-insurgency campaign. The NPA has recently executed a sister of a top rebel commander after she was discovered working as a spy for the military in Mindanao. It said Evelyn Pitao was killed after she was found guilty by its own court.
The woman was the sister of NPA leader Leoncio Pitao. She and her husband, Roberto Dadula, were killed last week inside their house in Santo Tomas town in Davao del Norte province.
Sanchez said Pitao’s sister was behind the Killing of her brother Danilo Pitao in Tagum City on June 2008 and the arrest of her own husband, Ka Emong, an NPA rebel, in Panabo City on January this year. She was also implicated in the arrest of Leoncio Pitao, alias Kumander Parago, on November 1999.
Pitao was eventually released from jail and returned to fight the government.
Colonel Daniel Lucero, commander of the Army’s Civil-Military Group, said the recent admission of the NPA in the killing of Pitao’s sister is reminiscent of the “Operasyon Kampanyang Ahos” undertaken by the rebels in Mindanao to cleanse its ranks of alleged military infiltrators.
”Evelyn used to be a party member of Guerilla Front 3 of the Southern Mindanao Regional Committee. Paranoia over suspected infiltrators and military spies in their ranks led to the purging operation in the 1980’s early part of 1990's. Until now, those CPP-NPA-NDF perpetrators of these killings remain unpunished. The families, friends and relatives of the victims of these purging operations up to the moment are still seeking for justice,” he said.
“With this admission of the CPP-NPA-NDF on the killing of Evelyn Pitao, we are calling the attention of the KARAPATAN to denounce such unjust and ruthless act of the CPP-NPA-NDF. Indeed, it is indisputable that Evelyn Pitao’s case is in the realm of KARAPATAN’s advocacy. Evelyn Pitao, though a member of the CPP-NPA-NDF, had basic right to life, humane treatment, and due process.”
Lucero was referring to the human rights group KARAPATAN which has accused the military of violating the rights of civilians in Mindanao.
The NPA is the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, which has been waging a secessionist war in the country. Peace talks between Manila and the CPP-NPA collapsed in 2004 after both sides failed to sign an agreement to end more than four decades of bloody fighting. (Mindanao Examiner)
Sunday, May 31, 2009
NPA admits killing rebel leader's sister who doubled as military spy in southern Philippines
The New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), said Evelyn Pitao was killed after she was found guilty by its own court.
The woman was the sister of NPA leader Leoncio Pitao, a rebel spokesman said.
She and her husband, Roberto Dadula, were killed last week inside their house in Santo Tomas town in Davao del Norte province.
Rigoberto Sanchez, of the NPA’s Merardo Arce Command, said the woman was punished for being an intelligence agent of the military.
He said Pitao’s sister was behind the Killing of her brother Danilo Pitao in Tagum City on June 2008 and the arrest of her own husband, Ka Emong, an NPA rebel, in Panabo City on January this year.
She was also implicated in the arrest of Leoncio Pitao, alias Kumander Parago, on November 1999.
“Evelyn Pitao's involvement in military intelligence operations started in 1998 when the Armed Forces of the Philippines hatched a national plan to capture her brother, Ka Parago. Evelyn Pitao and her live-in partner at that time relayed accurate information on the exact whereabouts of her brother. This resulted in the capture of Ka Parago. Her then live-in partner, a former NPA guerrilla turned military intelligence spy was killed in 2001 for various crimes,” Sanchez said.
Leoncio Pitao was eventually released from jail and returned to fight the government, but the NPA said her daughter had been abducted and killed March 4 by government troops.
Her naked body was found the next day floating in a shallow creek in the village of San Isidro in Davao del Norte’s Carmen town. Her family said the woman’s body bore torture marks and was believed raped.
“We take this occasion to expose that as a matter of fact, the AFP has long utilized all possible foul means in its military intelligence operations versus the revolutionary forces. One such dirty tactic is directed against family members and close relatives of revolutionaries who are targeted by the AFP.”
“Under pain of sustained harassment and increasing threats as well as of arbitrary arrests, forcible abductions, involuntary disappearances and killings, family members and close relatives of revolutionaries are being pressured to work as intelligence assets and agents of the AFP. Many have fallen victims while out of the few who have succumb, some later willfully performed intelligence duties with the enemy. Evelyn Pitao was one such case,” Sanchez said.
The NPA also apologized for the killing of Dadula.
“It was a tactical operational error with serious, albeit, unintentional consequence was committed in the course of implementing the penalty on Evelyn Pitao. The fatal shooting of her live-in partner Roberto Dadula should have not been resorted to since he was not a target nor did his resistance take place in an armed manner and thus, posed no threat to the NPA team,” he said.
“Appropriate measures are being undertaken to continuously address this distressing concern and implement the NPA rules on the matter in accordance with the international humanitarian law.”
The CPP earlier issued a statement condemning the killing of Pitao’s sister and husband and blamed the military for the murder. (Mindanao Examiner)
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Captured soldier killed during escape try, NPA rebels say
The New People’s Army said the soldier, Staff Sergeant Rolen Maglangit, was killed during a failed escape in the town of Monkayo in Compostela Valley province.
The military said the soldier, who was seized Friday, had been tortured and executed. His body was found on Saturday.
“Consistent with the Standard Operating Procedures pertaining to enemy combatants arrested or captured by NPA units, Sgt. Maglangit was to be subjected to an investigation for possible violations of human rights, other violations of international humanitarian law and crimes against the people particularly owing to the notorious record of the 36th Infantry Battalion versus the masses in the tri-boundaries of Agusan del Sur, Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley provinces.”
“But after being informed of the investigation he needed to undergo and despite repeated warnings from his captors not to run in the course of their trek, Sgt. Maglangit showed clear signs of resistance and eventually tried to escape. He was able to run a distance, but was hit by a burst of gunfire from the pursuing NPA troops. His corpse was left behind so as to be easily discovered by residents for proper disposition,” said Rigoberto Sanchez, spokesman for the NPA’s Merardo Arce Command.
The NPA is fighting for a separate Maoist state in the Philippines.
His unit said Maglangit was seized by the NPA after he tried to aid villagers being harassed by rebels in the village of Pasian.
“The commotion reached the attention of Maglangit, who was in the area procuring supplies. Maglangit, on civilian attire and unarmed, rushed to the scene to verify the disturbance.”
“He was able to relay the report to his unit when he confirmed the presence of undetermined number of NPAs harassing the civilians. While leaving the area, another group of NPAs suddenly held Maglangit and eventually kidnapped him,” said Captain Rosa Maria Cristina Manuel, a spokeswoman for the 10th Infantry Division.
Major General Reynaldo Mapagu, commander of the army division, the soldier was brutally killed. His body bore torture marks and several gunshot wounds. “The brutal murder of Staff Sergeant Rolen Maglangit perpetuated by the NPA last May 22 is enough wake up call for the Mindanaoans to unite and a put to stop their killing spree.”
“They have switched to a mode wherein they are willing to violate human rights and put justice into their own hands,” Mapagu said.
“We believe that he was murdered immediately after his kidnapping. I am sure that Sergeant Maglangit was not even sentenced by their kangaroo court. He was a brave soldier. He was going around his area of work, checking on the reported harassment of civilians by the NPA, when he was kidnapped,” he added.
But the NPA said the soldier was seized at a rebel checkpoint and his .45-caliber pistol was also confiscated by rebels.
“This incident should serve as a strong warning to captured enemy personnel as well as units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police neutralized during raid-disarming tactical offensives of the NPA that resistance would prove fatal.”
“A number of similar incidents in the past and even recently have shown that enemy personnel are left unharmed when they offer no armed resistance, in the case of attacks on AFP detachments and PNP stations; and do not escape, in the case of arrest operations. The MAC-SMROC hopes that enemy combatants who would be caught in these situations in the future would not follow what Sgt. Maglangit did,” Sanchez said.
The abduction of Maglangit came barely two weeks after rebels freed a captured government soldier – Private First Class Ronnie Trinidad - in Compostela Valley. The NPA said it freed the soldier on humanitarian grounds.
Rebels captured Trinidad, who belongs to the 66th Infantry Battalion, on April 28 at a checkpoint in the village of Pagsabangan in New Bataan town. Trinidad was seized while on his way to barracks with another soldier, Corporal Japhet Lavid, who had escaped from rebels.
Last week, communist rebels also executed a former army soldier, Dante Villa, they seized May 9 in Davao del Sur province, also in Mindanao. His body was recovered in the village of Dongan Pekong in Matanao town.
Early this month, NPA rebels admitted killing four civilians - Ruben Bitang, Macky Estremos, Marcelino Payot and Bobong Gambuta - they accused of aiding the military in its anti-insurgency campaign.
The rebels also tagged the four men as behind the brutal murder of Rebelyn Bitang, a daughter of a senior NPA leader Leoncio Pitao.
Pitao’s daughter was abducted in Davao City on March 4. Her naked body was found the next day floating in a shallow creek in the village of San Isidro in Davao del Norte’s Carmen town. Her family said the woman’s body bore torture marks and was believed raped.
The NPA is the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines. Peace talks between Manila and the CPP-NPA collapsed in 2004 after both sides failed to sign an agreement to end more than four decades of bloody fighting. (Mindanao Examiner)
Monday, May 11, 2009
NPA rebels free captured soldier in Mindanao
Rigoberto Sanchez, a spokesman for the New People’s Army (NPA), said Private First Class Ronnie Trinidad was freed on humanitarian grounds.
“The arrest, safe and orderly release of POW Trinidad amid the intense militarization in the countryside and the terrorism of the state against the people also indicates that Oplan Bantay Laya II of the criminal US-Arroyo regime is a big failure.”
“This, as the revolutionary forces continue to gain political and military headway against the fascist and most hated regime. The NPA has once again stood for high moral ang political ground unlike the terrorism and barbarity of the 10th Infantry Division-Armed Forces of the Philippines,” he said.
NPA rebels captured Trinidad, who belongs to the 66th Infantry Battalion, on April 28 at a checkpoint in the village of Pagsabangan in New Bataan town in Compostela Valley province.
Trinidad was released in the village of Ngan in Compostela town. The soldier’s release came a day after the military accused the rebels of violating Trinidad’s rights by holding him against his will, an accusation strongly denied by the NPA.
The rebels said Trinidad was held as a prisoner of war. The NPA seized Trinidad on while on his way to barracks with another soldier, Corporal Japhet Lavid, who was able to escape.
Sanchez said the freed soldier was investigated for possible human rights violations and other crimes related to the operations of his unit in Mindanao. He accused Trinidad’s unit of violating the rights of many innocent civilians in Compostela Valley province over the past six months during the military’s anti-insurgency campaigns.
Trinidad was freed after the soldier’s family and other groups appealed for his safe release, he said.
“This is also in consideration to the appeals made by well-meaning individuals and allies, and the family of POW Trinidad. POW Trinidad's case may be re-opened in the event of another justifiable arrest in the course of the people's war,” Sanchez said.
The NPA is the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, which has been waging a secessionist war in the country. Peace talks between Manila and the CPP-NPA collapsed in 2004 after both sides failed to sign an agreement to end more than four decades of bloody fighting. (Mindanao Examiner)
Thursday, May 07, 2009
NPA rebels admit killing military spies in Mindanao
It also admitted to killing three others who were working for the Philippine military and tagged as behind the murder of several political activists in Mindanao.
“Revolutionary punishment was served against Military Intelligence Battalion-Armed Forces of the Philippines assets Ruben Bitang, Macky Estremos, Marcelino Payot and Bobong Gambuta in separate dates since March this year. They were part of the 10th Infantry Division death squads based in Panabo City and Davao del Norte,” Rigoberto Sanchez, a rebel spokesman, said in a statement.
The rebels tagged Bitang as among those behind the murder of Rebelyn Pitao, 20, whose father Leoncio Pitao, alias Kumander Parago, is the leader of the NPA’s Pulang Bagani Command.
Pitao’s daughter was abducted in Davao City on March 4. Her naked body was found the next day floating in a shallow creek in the village of San Isidro in Davao del Norte’s Carmen town. Her family said the woman’s body bore torture marks and was believed raped.
The outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines said the murder of Pitao’s daughter highlights the Arroyo regime’s innumerable crimes against unarmed civilians who are invariably regarded by the military and its counter-insurgency strategists as combatants in the raging civil war.
The NPA said Bitang was the driver of the van used in the abduction of Pitao. His nephew, Army Sergeant Helvin Bitang, who is assigned with the Military Intelligence Group, was also among those accused by the rebels in the killing of Pitao.
Sanchez said members of the Paking Guimbaolibot Red Partisan Brigade carried out Bitang’s killing on May 3 in Panabo City.
He said NPA fighters killed Payot in Panabo City on April 14 and Gambuta on April 27, while Estremos was gunned down in Davao del Norte’s Carmen town late in March.
“The NPA in Southern Mindanao implemented the standing order against four intelligence and death squad operatives of the 10th Infantry Division of the Armed Forces of the Philippines for committing grave crimes against the revolutionary movement and the people,” he said.
Sanchez said the four men were military spies and members of death squad responsible for many killings of innocent civilians in Mindanao.
The military denied involvements in the killings.
Communist rebels broke off peace talks with Manila in 2004 after the United States on government's prodding listed the CPP and the NPA, including the National Democratic Front as foreign terrorist organizations and froze their assets abroad. (Mindanao Examiner)
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Special Forces Commander Held As Prisoner Of War Is Released By Rebels In Mindanao
Philippine communist rebels free First Lieutenant Vicente Cammayo, of the Special Forces, on January 6, 2008 after more than two months in captivity. (AKP Images / Ruby Thursday More) Rigoberto Sanchez, a spokesman for the New People's Army, said Cammayo’s release was a gesture of goodwill. The officer was freed near the town of Laac in Compostela Valley province.
“This is a gesture of goodwill on the part of the Communist Party of the Philippines on the occasion of its 40th anniversary. It further manifests the good faith of the NPA to its earlier statement in relation to the said POW's release on the first week of the New Year,” he said.
The rebels earlier suspended the release of Cammayo after government forces launched an offensive in the province on January 1.
“Were it not for the 10th Infantry Division-AFP's arrogance and callous disregard for the well-being and safety of the POWs, 1st Lt. Cammayo would have been reunited with his wife and family much earlier. As it was, the Armed Forces of the Philippines made sure that multi-sectoral initiatives for a negotiated release and cessation of military operations remain unheeded despite appeals from the POWs' wives, GRP local political leaders and church people,” Sanchez said.
Cammayo was captured Nov. 7 after rebel forces attacked his unit and killed two soldiers and a government militia in a fierce firefight in Casoon village in the town of Monkayo in Compostela Valley province.
The NPA originally ordered the release of Cammayo on December 28.
Sanchez said the army officer was not harmed during his captivity despite government offensives against the NPA.
“All his rights were respected as guaranteed under the International Humanitarian Law, the GRP-NDFP Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law and the NPA's Rules of Discipline. The NPA policy of humane and lenient treatment of POWs was practiced,” he said.
Sanchez accused the military of human rights violations in Compostela valley during its two-month rescue operations to free Cammayo. He said many civilians were also displaced by the military offensives.
The military said the release of Cammayo was a concerted efforts of the local government officials, family of the freed officer, and the security forces in Compostela Valley.
“There is no reason for anybody to be grateful to the NPA for the release of Ly. Cammayo. The release of Lt. Cammayo is not an act of goodwill. Being a clear criminal act, those who are behind the abduction must be held responsible under a legitimate justice system and we shall continue our vigorous military operation to pursue the abductors.”
“We maintain that the military was not involved in any negotiations, but rather an intensified rescue operation mission has been mapped out upon his abduction. The abduction of Lt. Cammayo serves as a reminder that these communist-terrorists will not spare anyone from the perils of their treacherous attacks. We appeal to the public to remain calm at all times,” said Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres, a military spokesman.
The rebels last month freed a captured policeman Eduardo Tumol, who was also seized Nov. 5 at a checkpoint in the village of Baogo in Davao Oriental's Caraga town.
Sanchez previously said that both Tumol and Cammayo were investigated for possible human rights violations and other crimes related to the operations of the Special Forces and the Provincial Mobile Group in Mindanao.
Aris Francisco, spokesman of the NPA's Alejandro Lanaja Command, accused the 3rd Special Forces Battalion to which Cammayo's unit belongs, as responsible for the series of violations to human rights, protocols of war and international humanitarian law in Compostela Valley province.
The NPA, armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, is fighting the government the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. Peace talks between Manila and the CPP-NPA collapsed in 2004 after both sides failed to sign an agreement ending hostilities in the countryside. (Mindanao Examiner)
Sunday, December 28, 2008
NPA rebels free captured army commander
The New People’s Army said it decided to free First Lieutenant Vicente Cammayo as an act of goodwill.
Cammayo was captured Nov. 7 after rebel forces attacked his unit and killed two soldiers and a government militia in a fierce firefight in Casoon village in the town of Monkayo in Compostela Valley province.
The rebels also seized an M60 machine gun and two M16 and one M14 automatic rifles from Cammayo's unit during the fighting.
The rebels earlier freed a captured policeman Eduardo Tumol, who was also seized Nov. 5 at a checkpoint in the village of Baogo in Davao Oriental's Caraga town.
“POW Cammayo's release is an act of goodwill on account of the continuing celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines. The decision is also anchored on humanitarian grounds,” Rigoberto Sanchez, a rebel spokesman, said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
The rebels celebrated its anniversary on Friday.
Sanchez said Cammayo, commander of the 11th Company of the Army’s 3rd Special Forces, would be released next week. But he warned that the NPA could suspend the release of Cammayo if military forces continue its operations that would endanger the safety of the prisoner.
“The implementation of the order of release shall be based on the NPA custodial unit's assessment of the ground situation particularly the movement of AFP troops. The NPA custodial unit has the authority to suspend the release of POW Cammayo if enemy movement continues since the safety of the said prisoner of war and the receiving party is of utmost importance,” he said.
Sanchez previously said that both Tumol and Cammayo were investigated for possible human rights violations and other crimes related to the operations of the Special Forces and the Provincial Mobile Group in Mindanao.
Aris Francisco, spokesman of the NPA's Alejandro Lanaja Command, accused the 3rd Special Forces Battalion to which Cammayo's unit belongs, as responsible for the series of violations to human rights, protocols of war and international humanitarian law in Compostela Valley province.
He accused the Special Forces of masterminding the June bombing in Nabunturan town that wounded several innocent civilians. The NPA also tagged Special Forces members as behind the brutal murder in June of a peasant leader Noli Llanos in Nabunturan's Mipangi village, where rebels killed three government soldiers; and also the killing of farmer Diego Encarnacion in the village of Linda in Nabunturan town in July. Both farmers were accused by the military as NPA supporters.
The military denied all accusations and branded them as propaganda.
The NPA, armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, is fighting the government the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. Peace talks between Manila and the CPP-NPA collapsed in 2004 after both sides failed to sign an agreement ending hostilities in the countryside. (Mindanao Examiner)
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Communist rebels release captured police officer in southern Philippines
Rigoberto Sanchez, a spokesman for the New People's Army rebels, said Eduardo Tumol was released as an act of goodwill.
“New People's Army Prisoner of War PO3 Eduardo C. Tumol, Badge No. 078679, was released today as an act of goodwill as the whole revolutionary movement celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines,” he said.
He said Tumol was accorded humane and lenient treatment befitting his status as prisoner of war in accordance with international war protocols, the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law and the NPA's Three Rules of Discipline and Eight Points of Attention.
Sanchez did not give details of Tumol’s release. Tumol, a member of the 1105th Provincial Mobile Group, was arrested on November 5 by the NPA at a checkpoint in the village of Baogo in Davao Oriental's Caraga town. His commander, Chief Inspector Angel Sumagaysay, and another policeman were able to escape from the rebels.
The NPA is still holding First Lieutenant Vicente Cammayo since November 7 after rebel forces attacked his unit and killed two soldiers and a government militia in a fierce firefight in Casoon village in the town of Monkayo in Compostela Valley province.
The rebels also seized an M60 machine gun and two M16 and one M14 automatic rifles from Cammayo's unit during the fighting.
It was unknown when Cammayo would be freed, but Sanchez previously said that both prisoners were being investigated for possible human rights violations and other crimes related to the operations of the Special Forces and the Provincial Mobile Group in Mindanao.
Aris Francisco, spokesman of the NPA's Alejandro Lanaja Command, accused the 3rd Special Forces Battalion to which Cammayo's unit belongs, as responsible for the series of violations to human rights, protocols of war and international humanitarian law in Compostela Valley province.
He accused the Special Forces of masterminding the June bombing in Nabunturan town that wounded several innocent civilians. "The bombing was a desperate and fascist attack in response to the sparrow operations of the NPA which killed two of their soldiers at that time," he said.
The NPA also tagged Special Forces members as behind the brutal murder in June of a peasant leader Noli Llanos in Nabunturan's Mipangi village, where rebels killed three government soldiers; and also the killing of farmer Diego Encarnacion in the village of Linda in Nabunturan town in July. Both farmers were accused by the military as NPA supporters.
The military denied all accusations and branded them as propaganda.
The NPA, armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, is fighting the government the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. Peace talks between Manila and the CPP-NPA collapsed in 2004 after both sides failed to sign an agreement ending hostilities in the countryside. (Mindanao Examiner)
Sunday, November 30, 2008
NPA releases video clip of Special Forces captive in Mindanao
The New People’s Army is holding First Lieutenant Vicente Cammayo since November 7 after rebel forces attacked his unit and killed two soldiers and a government militia in a fierce firefight in Casoon village in the town of Monkayo in Compostela Valley province.
The Army’s Eastern Mindanao Command said Cammayo was shot and wounded during the firefight. The rebels also seized an M60 machine gun and two M16 and one M14 automatic rifles from Cammayo's unit during the fighting.
The undated clip emailed to the Mindanao Examiner showed Cammayo already with mustache and bearded, sitting on a hammock surrounded by shrubs. One guard, armed with an automatic rifle, was standing about seven meters away from Cammayo – he was wearing a black t-shirt with inscription ALC, an acronym for an NPA unit called Alejandro Lanaja Command.
“I am First Lieutenant Vicente Cammayo, Philippine Army, team leader na naka-assign sa 10th Special Forces Company, naka-base sa Laak, ComVal province. I was captured in the performance of my duty during the encounter with the New People’s Army under Alejandro Lanaja Command dated 07 November 2008 at Barangay Casoon, ComVal province,” he said in his opening statement.
Cammayo, wearing a red t-shirt over his camouflage uniform, appeared to be nervous and tensed. “Bilang pamamalagi ko dito sa kamay nila bilang bihag o POW, hindi naman nalapastangan ang aking pagkatao at nirespeto ang aking mga karapatan. Ibinigay sa akin ang mga pangunahing kailangan. Maayos ang kanilang trato sa akin,” he said.
He also told his wife, Marielle Cammayo, and mother, Cecilia Cammayo, not to worry too much about him. Cammayo also asked the two women to pray for his early release from the hands of rebels.
Cammayo also denied military reports that he was shot and wounded during the fighting with rebels.
“Sa akin asawa na si Marielle Cammayo at sa akin nanay na si Cecilia Cammayo, nais kong malaaman ninyo wala akong tama o kaya ay nasugatan doon sa nangyaring enkuwentro at alam ko ngayon na hindi maayos ang inyong pagiisip dahil sa kaiisip sa akin. Nasa maayos akong kalagayan ngayon at sana ay ipagdasal natin na mapaaga ang aking paglaya sa kamay ng NPA,” he said in the last part of the clip.
Aris Francisco, spokesman of the NPA's Alejandro Lanaja Command, accused the 3rd Special Forces Battalion to which Cammayo's unit belongs, as responsible for the series of violations to human rights, protocols of war and international humanitarian law in Compostela Valley province.
He said the Special Forces masterminded the June bombing in Nabunturan town that wounded several innocent civilians. “The bombing was a desperate and fascist attack in response to the sparrow operations of the NPA which killed two of their soldiers at that time,” he said.
The NPA also tagged Special Forces members as behind the brutal murder in June of a peasant leader Noli Llanos in Nabunturan's Mipangi village, where rebels killed three government soldiers; and also the killing of farmer Diego Encarnacion in the village of Linda in Nabunturan town in July. Both farmers were accused by the military as NPA supporters.
Aside from Cammayo, the NPA is also holding Police Officer 3 Eduardo Tumol, a member of the 1105th Provincial Mobile Group, who was arrested on November 5 by rebels at a checkpoint in the village of Baogo in Davao Oriental’s Caraga town.
Tumol's commander, Chief Inspector Angel Sumagaysay, and another policeman were able to escape from the rebels. Rigoberto Sanchez, a rebel spokesman, said Cammayo and Tumol are both being investigated for possible human rights violations and other crimes related to the operations of the Special Forces and the Provincial Mobile Group in Mindanao.
The NPA, armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), is fighting the government the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. Peace talks between Manila and the CPP-NPA collapsed in 2004 after both sides failed to sign an agreement ending hostilities in the countryside. (Mindanao Examiner)
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Philippine rebels capture Army Special Forces commander
Rigoberto Sanchez, an NPA spokesman, said rebel forces are holding 1Lt. Vicente P. Cammayo, commander of the 11th Special Forces Company. “He was taken as an NPA prisoner of war,” Sanchez said, adding, the Alejandro Lanaja Command is holding Camayo captive.
Cammayo’s group clashed with rebels Nov. 7 in Compostela Valley's Monkayo town that left two army soldiers and a government militia dead in the village of Casoon.
“The smashing blow the Alejandro Lanaja Command of the New People’s Army delivered on an enemy unit touted as the regime's elite combat forces is a testament to the increasing military capabilities of the NPA. It is an apt punishment to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the fascist and corrupt Arroyo regime for the grave atrocities it has committed and continues to commit against the Filipino masses,” Sanchez said.
Army Maj. Gen. Jogy Leo Fojas, commander of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, said the offensive against the NPA will not stop until the rebel group is neutralized.
“Our troops will not get tired of running after the NPA bandits,” he said. “We will never stop until we get hold of Camayo and return him to his loved ones.”
Sanchez warned any rescue attempt would put Cammayo’s life in peril. “The only cause of POW Cammayo's safety being imperiled emanates from the 10th Infantry Division's futile attempt to mount a rescue operation,” he said.
He said Cammayo is being interrogated for possible human rights violations and other crimes related to operations of the Special Forces in Mindanao.
Sanchez said Cammayo’s rights as prisoner of war are being respected by rebels.
“His rights as a POW are guaranteed in consonance with the NPA's Three Rules of Discipline and Eight Points of Attention and Protocol II of the Geneva Convention,” he said. “We assure his wife and family that he is well and is adapting to the guerrilla conditions of his captivity.”
The rebels also seized an M60 machine gun and two M16 and one M14 automatic rifles from Cammayo’s unit during the fighting.
Aris Francisco, spokesman of the NPA’s Alejandro Lanaja Command, accused the 3rd Special Forces Battalion to which Cammayo’s unit belongs, as responsible for the series of violations to human rights, protocols of war and international humanitarian law in Compostela Valley province.
Francisco said the Special Forces masterminded the June bombing in Nabunturan town that wounded several innocent civilians. “The bombing was a desperate and fascist attack in response to the sparrow operations of the NPA which killed two of their soldiers at that time,” he said.
The NPA also tagged Special Forces members as behind the brutal murder in June of a peasant leader Noli Llanos in Nabunturan's Mipangi village, where rebels killed three government soldiers; and also the killing of farmer Diego Encarnacion in the village of Linda in Nabunturan town in July. Both farmers were accused by the military as NPA supporters.
The NPA, armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, is fighting the government the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
Monday, October 27, 2008
NPA owns up ambush of troops in Mindanao
Rigoberto Sanchez, a spokesman for the New People’s Army, said rebel forces killed the soldiers in two days of separate attacks in New Bataan and Monkayo towns in Compostela Valley province.
Philippine military officials said rebels killed soldiers who were on a humanitarian mission in the town of New Bataan, a charge strongly denied by the NPA. They said only six soldiers were killed and two others wounded in the attacks.
“While the Merardo Arce Command commends the NPA guerrillas, it also condemns the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ attempt to hide its battlefield blunder in its claim that their troops were on their so-called humanitarian and medical mission,” Sanchez said in a statement.
He said the ambushed soldiers were on a military operation and part of a bigger group deployed to track down NPA rebels in the province, a known rebel stronghold in Mindanao.
”Worse, aside from the deceptive humanitarian cover, the implacable fascist troops immediately and indiscriminately bombed the civilian-populated hinterlands in New Bataan. The fascist enemy, suffering from low morale, disregards war protocols, in blatant display of brutality and vengeance,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez said rebel forces will continue to strike on security forces in Mindanao as part of its offensive against the Arroyo government.
“Indeed, foot soldiers and officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police face real danger anywhere and every time, especially within the guerrilla territories of the revolutionary movement.”
“The cumulative effect of such guerrilla actions and the people's wrath against the hated Arroyo regime and the Armed Forces’ unwarranted and arbitrary reprisals spells doom for the US-Arroyo's costly delusions to finish off the revolutionary movement by 2010,” he said.
President Gloria Arroyo ordered the military to finish off the rebels, who are fighting for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country, before her term ends in 2010.
The NPA is the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, which broke off peace talk with the Arroyo government in 2004 after accusing Manila of reneging on its commitments to free all political prisoners and to put a stop to political killings, among others.
The United States and the European Union listed the Communist Party of the Philippines and the NPA, including its political arm, the National Democratic Front, as foreign terrorist organizations on Manila's prodding. The US is currently aiding the Philippine military in defeating communist insurgency by providing local troops with vital intelligence about the rebels. (Mindanao Examiner)
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Rebels Kill 6 Soldiers In Southern Philippine Ambush
The military said troops were patrolling the village of Manurigao in Compostela Valley's New Bataan when New People's Army rebels detonated a landmine.
The explosion was followed by a volley of enemy gunfire that sparked a firefight that lasted more than 30 minutes. A military report said one of its casualties was an army lieutenant.
“This most recent act of the communist NPAs clearly speaks of the true nature of these inhuman criminals; they indiscriminately use landmines despite the threat that it poses to the innocent civilians. Though the provisions of the Geneva Convention on the use of landmines does not apply to them because they are plain and simple terrorists, we cannot help but complain with the effects of these landmines to the rights of innocent lives that were caught and affected in the middle of their atrocities.”
“The communist NPAs have been hiding in the issues of human rights utilizing their front organization ‘Karapatan’ to protect their cause but obviously, they have long been using landmines that inflicted severe human rights violations to innocent civilians,” Captain Michael Aquino, of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, said in a statement.
He identified the slain soldiers as 2nd Lt. Jefrey Domingo, Cpl. Anthony Maglantay, Pfc. Jose Membrillos and Jessis Cino and Pvt. Hasjil Mohamadnur and Philip Narval. And named the wounded as Pfc. Bernie Espanola and Castro Diocolano and Pvt. Jorolie Fabay.
The NPA, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, has vowed to launch more attacks against military targets despite the government's ongoing offensive in Mindanao.
President Gloria Arroyo ordered the military to finish off the rebels, who are fighting for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country, before her she steps down on 2010.
Rigoberto Sanchez, a rebel spokesman, said government soldiers are no much to the guerrilla warfare the NPA is campaigning in the South. He said what the military is doing is to "shock and terrorize" civilians caught in the middle of the government's campaign against the NPA.
But the military campaign has displaced thousands of villagers in Mindanao, particularly in Compostela Valley and nearby provinces. There were also many reports of human rights violations by soldiers.
The Exodus for Justice and Peace (EJP), an alliance of various human rights groups, church and health organizations, in Mindanao on Saturday urged the government to ensure the safety of civilians.
It cited a recent operation by soldiers against rebels from a village called Kalinugan in Monkayo town where civilians could get caught in crossfire.
"The military can not simply say that their operations are legitimate and collateral damages are inevitable. There is no justification to anything they do that endangers the lives of the people," said Rev. Jurie Jaime, a member of the EJP who heads the Promotion of Church and People's Response.
"We are also receiving reports of harassments and other violations committed against the rights of innocent civilians in some parts of Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental as results of the military's intensified anti-insurgency operations," he said.
Rebel leaders broke off peace talk with the Arroyo government in 2004 after accusing Manila of reneging on its commitments to free all political prisoners and to put a stop to political killings, among others.
The United States and the European Union listed the Communist Party of the Philippines and the NPA, including its political arm, the National Democratic Front, as foreign terrorist organizations on Manila's prodding. (Mindanao Examiner)