Reds disarm 2 cop escorts of Surigao bet

BUTUAN CITY — Communist rebels disarmed two police escorts of an opposition mayoralty candidate in Surigao del Sur last Tuesday afternoon, the Caraga police said.

The New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas, numbering about 100, threatened to hold the two policemen, SPO2 Lunicito Otacan and PO2 Laudemer Demol, hostage until mayoralty bet Armando Lunio pleaded for their release, reports said.

It was not clear whether Lunio, a former mayor of Tagbina town who is again seeking the top local post under the banner of the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP), paid a permit-to-campaign fee to the rebels in exchange for the two lawmen’s freedom.

The guerrillas’ leader was said to have demanded P100,000 from Lunio who was campaigning in Sitio Greenfield in Barangay Sta. Juana, Tagbina town when the incident happened.

Caraga police director Alberto Rama Olario said he ordered the Tagbina police to explain why it took them some time before they reported the incident to the regional command.

Col. Rogelio Rosete, commanding officer of the Army’s 401st Infantry Brigade, appealed to local politicians not to hesitate to seek military assistance if the NPA demands permit-to-campaign fees from them. — Ben Serrano