13 kin of ex-rebels dropped from Army training course

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Philippines – Thirteen relatives of former members of the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army (CPLA) undergoing candidate soldier’s course have been dropped in the middle of their training in Camp Upi, Gamu, Isabela.

This was confirmed by CPLA-Cordillera Forum for Peace and Development chairman Arsenio Humiding who attributed the disqualification of the candidates for their being overaged.

Humiding denied the incident was an offshoot of an internal rift within their group, referring to the attempt on the life of Felipe Cariño, the group’s vice chair.

Cariño was hurt when a bomb planted under his vehicle exploded while inside the camp on the eve of the training commencement last June 24.

He said tribal elders are also conducting a parallel investigation on the attempt on Cariño’s life, apart from the ongoing police investigation.

Cariño is still in the hospital due to severe injuries.

Army Division Commander Maj. Gen. Joel Ibañez allowed the CPLA to replace the dropped candidates with qualified ones to maintain the 168 number of last batch of trainees undergoing training.