Army chief alerts field units vs NPA kidnapping

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Army on Friday said that it has alerted its field units amid the series of abduction of security personnel by the New People's Army (NPA).

“The NPA has shifted its ideological works to casing and kidnapping unarmed soldiers bringing progress to barangays, and this should be stopped,” Army chief Lt. Gen. Noel Coballes said in his alert order to the troops.

He said that the NPA is deliberately targeting soldiers involved in government development projects in far-flung communities.

This week a soldier was taken by rebels from a market place in Barangay Elizalde, Maco town in Compostela Valley province.

Coballes said Army commanders should be on alert and start implementing counter-measures to prevent a similar incident from happening.

“When before, they abduct soldiers and policemen from a hasty roadblock, now they deliberately operate like a regular kidnapping group, casing and abducting their subjects,” Coballes said.

Coballes said he wouldn’t be surprised if in the future, the insurgents will demand “board and lodging fee” for their victims like the Abu Sayyaf.