WE WEREN'T THERE | Reds laugh off military's ComVal hostage 'yarn'

From InterAksyon (May 7): WE WEREN'T THERE | Reds laugh off military's ComVal hostage 'yarn'

The New People’s Army on Wednesday laughed off military claims that guerrillas had held hostage 39 miners and used them as “human shields” in Compostela Valley over the weekend, saying they were not even there.

On Saturday, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Logico, commander of the Army’s 66th Infantry Battalion, said rebels had seized the miners from Barangay Mahayahay in Maragusan town Saturday morning as they fled from pursuing government troops but had been cornered in Sitio Tabon, Barangay Panamin in Mabini town.

[READ RELATED STORY: Army claims NPA holding civilians as human shields in Compostela Valley] 

On Monday, Captain Alberto Caber, spokesman of the Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom), said the rebels had released 36 of their hostages.

[READ RELATED STORY: NPA releases 36 gold rush miners but still keeps 3 in Compostela Valley]

However, Daniel Ibarra, spokesman of the NPA’s ComVal-Davao Gulf Sub-regional Command, claimed the alleged hostage taking was actually a forced evacuation ordered by the Army’s 66th Infantry Battalion following what he said was a series of rebel offensives that had inflicted substantial casualties on government forces.

“The AFP’s (Armed Forces of the Philippines) forced evacuation and threat of bombing greatly terrified the masses, giving them no choice but to leave their homes and sources of livelihood,” Ibarra said.

“The AFP offensives also failed to defeat the Red Fighters, who were clearly not encamped in the mining community, but were somewhere else, far away from the civilian populace and gearing up for the next tactical offensive,” he added.

The rebel spokesman said the military suffered casualties when they mounted operations against NPA guerrillas who had carried out punitive attacks on Apex Mining last month.

He claimed rebel attacks on April 12 and 13 cost the military 12 dead and five wounded.

“Failing to deter NPA’s tactical offensives, the AFP resorted to terror tactics and mounted the scripted tale of NPA hostaging (sic) last May 3-5,” Ibarra said.

However, he said, what happened was, “the 66th IB Commanding Officer called up tunnel owners to order small-scale miners and their families to vacate Tabun, Barangay Mahayahay, Maragusan town, Abaka and sitio Dasuran, Barangay Golden Valley, Mabini -- all mining communities in Compostela Valley. The same Army officer also warned them of shelling bombardment operations.”

“To counter the AFP’s offensive operations against the masses, the NPA employed guerrilla warfare tactics and ambushed on May 5 troops from the 71st IB in Sitio Panganasun, Brgy. Napnapan, Pantukan; 11 fascist soldiers were killed,” Ibarra said.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/86273/we-werent-there--reds-laugh-off-militarys-comval-hostage-yarn