Compostela rebels want AFP operations halted

DAVAO CITY , Philippines  - The New People’s Army (NPA) has reportedly demanded that government forces cease their operations to rescue three soldiers and a militiaman who were abducted by communist guerrillas in Mawab, Compostela Valley last Wednesday.

Joint elements of the Army’s 66th Infantry Battalion and the 1001st Infantry Brigade have reportedly launched a massive operation against the insurgents who snatched Corporals Marcial Bawagan, Ariel Asumo and Eduardo Alcala and CAFGU member Victor Pitogo while they were attending the birthday party of Bawagan’s three-year-old son in Barangay Sawangan, Mawab town.

Capt. Manuel Garcia, spokesman of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, said the rebels have reportedly gotten in touch with the relatives of the captive soldiers to relay their demand for halt to the military operations.

Garcia said the rebels have resorted again to their usual ploy of demanding for a stop in military operations so they could freely move around without the soldiers going after them.

Maj. Gen. Carlos Holganza, 10th ID commander, said the military would not negotiate with the NPA to secure the freedom of Bawagan’s group.

The three soldiers and militiaman were seized just a day after the rebels waylaid an Army convoy escorting poll officers in neighboring Maragusan town, killing six people, four of them soldiers, and wounding 12 others.