Iloilo folk rap NPA rebels over landmines

MANILA, Philippines - Residents of Iloilo have filed before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) a complaint against communist rebels who planted landmines in the province, the military said yesterday.

In a statement, the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Civil Relations Service (AFP-CRS) said residents of Barangay Igcabugao in Igbaras town are concerned about the dangers posed by the landmines to their community.

The AFP-CRS quoted village chief Bonifacio Endencio as saying that the rebels had left two active landmines merely 300 meters away from the barangay elementary school.

Endencio said the landmines were planted by New People’s Army (NPA) rebels after they attacked the community last month.

“This incident caused the community great alarm and fear because there were students attending classes when the NPA (rebels) started firing at us. As a result, classes were suspended for three days while soldiers cleared Sitio Bais,” Endencio said in an affidavit.  

The AFP-CRS said the residents of Barangay Igcabugao have asked the Army’s 82nd Infantry Battalion, which is under the 3rd Infantry Division, to help them file their complaint before the CHR.

The 3rd ID “will continue to stay vigilant to prevent these terrorists from disrupting further the peaceful lives of the citizens,” said Maj. Gen. Vicente Porto, its commanding general.

Brig. Gen. Francisco Cruz Jr., AFP-CRS chief, encouraged those affected by landmine attacks to report such incidents to the authorities.   

“It is indeed through better awareness and collective protest against the NPA’s landmine use that we can effectively thwart it,” he said.

The NPA has launched 53 landmine attacks since 2002, victimizing 186 people, 34 of whom are civilians, despite an international agreement that bars the use of the explosive, the AFP said.

The Philippines is a signatory to the Mine Ban Treaty convened in Ottawa, Canada in 1997, which prohibits the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines or those designed to incapacitate, injure or kill one or more persons.