Reds cancel release of two captive soldiers

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — The New People’s Army (NPA) has "cancelled with regrets" the planned release of two soldiers being held "prisoners of war" by its Romulo Jallores command in the Bicol region for the military’s alleged refusal to cease armed operations against communist rebels.

In a statement released to The Star yesterday, Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) spokesperson Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal said the NPA has no choice but to cancel the release because the Armed Forces of the Philippines has stubbornly refused to "cease offensive military operations in violation of standard operating procedures and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP)-National Democratic Front (NDF) agreements regarding release arrangements."

The NPA rebels have been holding Lt. Ronaldo Fidelino and Pfc. Ronnel Nemeno for five months now since they were captured by the NPA during a clash between the rebels and government forces in Tinambac, Camarines Sur last March 1. They were initially slated for release last week.

"The military does not want the public to see a safe and orderly release of the POWs by the NPA and instead insists on pursuing its rescue operations in order to show off, despite consistent failures," Rosal said.

"But the CPP-NPA nevertheless hopes that the Arroyo government can eventually make the AFP follow the commitments and orders of its supposedly superior civilian political authority and comply with the required procedures and other arrangements for the release of the POWs which government and NDF negotiators worked hard to reach over the negotiating table," he said.

As this developed, the military announced that it is not bent on giving in to the demands of the NPA to stop the military operations in the Bicol region aimed at rescuing the two hostages.

Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero, Armed Forces spokesman, said that it is a "political decision" of the Arroyo administration and the Army leadership is merely "taking orders from our political leaders."

Lucero added that Fidelino and Nemeno have to realize that they have "embraced" the risks that come with their profession as soldiers tasked to protect the government.

"Being soldiers, we have to face the reality that our job is the riskiest compared to others," Lucero said. "...we are here to purposely protect the government. With this kind of job, we accept the fact that this kind of incident is imminent.

He added that the rebels would likely pin the blame on the government once their captive soliders get killed while in captivity by making it appear that the government has failed to act on their demands. — With Christina Mendez