Soldiers try to rescue 2 captured pals

LEGAZPI CITY — Government troops are trying to rescue two soldiers who were captured by communist guerrillas during a fierce gunbattle in Camarines Sur last March 1, the military said.

New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas have asked the government to stop Army assaults in Camarines Sur to pave the way for negotiations for the release of the soldiers. The military said it would continue the rescue attempts.

The rebels were using their captives — 1Lt. Ronaldo Fidelino and Pfc. Ronel Nemenio — to try to fend off assaults against a fleeing band of about 40 rebels near Tinambac town, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero.

This developed as the insurgents simultaneously attacked a police outpost in Nabua town and a military detachment in Balatan town, both in Camarines Sur, Monday night, police said.

Senior Superintendent Roberto Rongavilla, provincial police director, said 30 rebels tried to overrun the police outpost in Barangay Tandaay but the 20 policemen manning it put up a fight.

In Balatan, a 20-minute clash ensued when 40 rebels swooped down on the detachment of the Army’s 42nd Infantry Battalion in Barangay Cabanbanan.

Col. Serafin Raymundo, spokesman of the Army’s 9th Infantry Division, said the NPA attacks were meant to divert the military’s attention from its ongoing rescue operations in the Camarines Sur towns of Tinambac, Siruma, Goa, Lagonoy, Garchitorena, Presentacion and Calabanga.

Ambush

Fidelino and Nemenio were captured during a rebel ambush of a military convoy in Tinambac on March 1. Both belongs to the Army’s 42nd IB, of which Fedelino is the commanding officer.

The attack sparked a firefight that killed about 10 guerrillas and wounded several others, who need to be brought out of the hinterlands for treatment, Lucero said.

"They want us to stop the operations so they could extricate their wounded," Lucero said. "But we have put in more troops there to rescue our men."

Sporadic fighting was erupting in the area, he said.

Communist rebel spokesman Rogelio Rosal said the captives were being treated well but warned that their lives could be endangered and their possible release stalled if the military tries to rescue them.

"We are trying to ensure their safety, but if the pursuit operations continue, these could lead to fighting and expose them to risks," Rosal said.

The guerrillas began fighting for a Marxist state in 1969. The conflict has killed or displaced thousands.

Considered the most serious threat to the country’s security, the guerrillas recently stepped up fighting nationwide, staging nearly 100 attacks in the last two months despite a recent resumption of peace talks mediated by Norway. — Celso Amo, Benjie Villa