News
14 FIREARMS SEIZED IN MASBATE AMBUSH
Fourteen assorted firearms were seized while four policemen were killed in an ambush by New People's Army guerrillas. Two policemen and two elements of the Citizens' Armed Forces Geographical Unit were also wounded. The ambush was launched against a nine-man team of the Philippine National Police on the morning of August 2 in Sitio Bat-og, Barangay Balite in Aroroy, Masbate. Seized were six M16s, two Garands, two .45 pistols and four .38 revolvers.
SALVAGING IN SOUTHERN MINDANAO CONDEMNED
The National Democratic Front, church groups, media personnel and others condemned another flagrant violation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) perpetrated by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Roundly condemned was the "salvaging" (summary execution) of a Communist Party cadre, a New People's Army (NPA) guerrilla and two mining company officials in Compostela Valley. According to a church-led fact-finding mission, Godofredo Guimbaolibot (Ka Paking), Rolando Jubahib (Ka JR), Edwin Asion and Mariano Diamante were abducted on the afternoon of August 2 in Barangay Ngan, Compostela by elements of the 60th IB led by Lt. Rolando Cateel. The four were aboard a Nissan pickup when arrested. Despite Ka Paking and Ka JR s clear status as hors d'combat and despite the CARHRIHL's ban on targeting civilians in the armed conflict, the four were tortured and murdered that evening along a desolate section of the Davao-Agusan highway in Barangay Tuburan, Mawab while they were supposedly being brought to the 701st Brigade headquarters.
Ka Paking was a Communist Party cadre in Southern Mindanao while Ka JR was an NPA medic. Asion, an engineer, was the operations manager of Bullex Mining while Diamante was the firm's supply officer.
The media found incredible the military's reports that Ka Paking's attempt to grab an Armalite rifle from a soldier led to the shooting of the four captives. Witnesses asserted that Ka Paking was incapable of fighting because his hands were tied behind his back from the time of his arrest.
In related news, the Workers' Party of Belgium has extended a message of condolence and solidarity to the comrades and family of Ka Paking. The party hailed Ka Paking as a revolutionary leader who was "understanding and caring, guiding and stimulating". "We are convinced," said the party, "that the life, struggle and martyrdom of Ka Paking will have contributed a lot to making the revolution stronger, until victory."
STRAFING, FOOD BLOCKADE IN NEGROS ORIENTAL ASSAILED
Former National Democratic Front spokesperson Frank Fernandez assailed the violation of the human rights of civilians in Negros Oriental by elements of the Philippine Army and the Citizens' Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU). In a press statement, Fernandez condemned the strafing and manhandling of civilians living in Barangay Trinidad, Guihulngan, Negros Oriental by soldiers and CAFGU elements after a firefight last August 15 that left six military troopers dead. A Red fighter was also slain in the encounter.
According to Fernandez, the soldiers strafed the house of Patricia Quirante, a resident of the barangay. Quirante's five-year-old child was wounded in the strafing. Another civilian, George Villanueva, was beaten up by the troopers. Due to the terror sowed by the Philippine Army, said Fernandez, many villagers have been forced to leave their homes. Progressive organizations in Negros Oriental have also assailed the 33rd IB for enforcing a food blockade in the villages of Hinumayan, Amomoyon and Cabulay in Guihulngan after the firefight.
ERRATUM: In its May-June 1999 issue, AB reported that a trooper from the 3rd Special Forces Battalion of the Philippine Army was killed and three were wounded in an ambush by the New People s Army (NPA) in Barangay Mainit, Bontoc, Mountain Province last June 21. According to the latest reports from the Leonardo Pacsi Command, the NPA unit operating in the province, five soldiers were killed and three were wounded in the ambush. The Leonardo Pacsi Command also reported that the ambush was a punitive action against the soldiers who were deployed to defend the interests of foreign mining companies in the province.
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