DAVAO CITY ,Philippines – The New People’s Army released yesterday afternoon PO3 Jorge Sabatin who had been held captive for the past 18 days in the hinterlands of Trento, Agusan del Sur.
According to Roel Agustin II, spokesperson of the NPA’s Conrado Heredia Command, Sabatin was released in an apparent show of confidence and humanitarian effort for the resumption of the peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in Oslo, Norway.
“In recognition of the efforts to open the formal peace negotiation between the government and the NDFP, we are now releasing Sabatin,” Agustin said.
Sabatin was snatched on Feb. 1 when a band of communist rebels raided an outpost jointly manned by police and personnel of the provincial office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Agusan del Sur.
Agustin said the outpost, located just along the highway in Barangay Pulang Lupa in Trento, has been used as an ‘extortion machinery’ of the provincial government.
When Sabatin was taken by the NPA rebels on Feb. 4, two civilians were also killed in the same attack, who turned out to be flaggers or mamamara of the PNP and DENR personnel assigned in the outpost.
Agustin said the victims, Fritz Mark Dimzon and Carlito Tumandag, were tasked to flag down vehicles passing through the said outpost.
Agustin said the victims were collecting money, as much as P1,000 each, particularly from trucks passing by the outpost that carry logs.
The practice was reportedly confirmed by Sabatin himself.
“This is a positive manifestation of the sincerity of the Communist Party of the Philippines to pursue peace. Let us always desire for peace and work hard to achieve peace. Let us always work for the cause of the poor. It is good that we have identified ourselves with the poor,” said United Church of Christ of the Philippines (UCCP) Bishop Constante Claro of the Exodus for Justice and Peace group.
Sabatin’s release was also witnessed by Agusan del Sur Vice Gov. Santiago Cane and representatives from other concerned groups.
Ready to declare ceasefire
In related developments, the government’s chief peace negotiator said yesterday it is ready to declare ceasefire with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) again.
Lawyer Alexander Padilla, chief of the government peace panel for the National Democratic Front (NDF)-CPP-NPA, said a ceasefire will always be good for the two panels and the people.
“Any ceasefire that lessens violence – the incidence of violence – will always be good I think, not only for both sides but the entire Filipino people,” Padilla, who is now in Oslo, Norway for the Feb. 15-21 peace negotiations with the NDF-CPP-NPA, said.
Padilla said they are looking forward to settling the armed conflict with the CPP-NPA-NDF fast so they can work together as partners in finding solutions to the problems the country has been facing.
“We are again emphasizing that we hope to do this as fast as we could so they can help us as partners in trying to solve the problems,” Padilla said.
Both parties agreed to hold formal negotiations on Feb. 15-21 after six years of impasse.
The talks are being brokered by the Royal Norwegian government, which has been acting as third party facilitator since 2001.
“We have high hopes that this will be the start, the beginning of a real honest-to-goodness process for a just and equitable peace settlement between both parties that will lead to concrete benefits for our people,” Padilla said.
Padilla also said that the government is hoping both parties will “remain focused on these efforts” to “accomplish this hopefully within three years or maybe much, much less.”
He said the agenda of the formal talks include the remaining substantive issues, such as socio-economic reforms, political and constitutional reforms, and the end of hostilities and disposition of forces. – With Ben Serrano, Jose Rodel Clapano, Mike Frialde