The four suspected spies were Marine Sgt. Jeremias Rosete, Herminia Sorongon, Wilfredo Maldecir and Pepito Simbulan.
They were abducted by elements of the Valentin Palamine Command of Far South Region, an armed unit of the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA operating in South-Central Mindanao.
The four were declared "prisoners of war" and were later meted the death sentence by a rebel court after they were foud guilty of spying on them.
Efforts have been exerted to secure the release of Rosete, an operative of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, (ISAFP) but to no avail. The AFP even recommended the dismissal of Rosete from the military after it allegedly found evidence that he had defected to the rebels’ side.
The CPP-NPA, however, repeatedly denied reports of Rosete’s defection.
Lt. Allan Martinez, platoon leader of the Bravo Company of the 27th Infantry Batallion based in Barangay Mayu, Columbio, Sultan Kudarat, said in a phone interview yesterday that the bones of Rosete and his three companions were retrieved last week somewhere in the remote part of Bantog, Barangay Sinapulan, Columbio, Sultan Kudarat.
Martinez said the bones were turned over to the Military Intelligence Group (MIG) of the AFP by a certain municipal councilor in Columbio town and were immediately brought to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Davao City for examination and validation.
When asked how the four were killed, Martinez said that based on the information they recieved, Rosete and his three companions had escaped from their captors on January 10, 2003 but after two days of walking, they were captured in Barangay Madpok in Tulunan, North Cotabato.
The four were reportedly tried in a "kangaroo" court and were killed by armed-members of the NPA-MRGU in front of the rebels’ supporters.