Ambush may put NPA in bad light

From the Sun Star-Cagayan de Oro (Jan 2): Ambush may put NPA in bad light

THE death of two soldiers and a paramilitary by Maoist guerrillas in an ambush in Mabini, Compostela Valley on Monday, December 29, amid the month-long ceasefire declared by the government may put the New People’s Army (NPA) in a bad light, a military official said Friday.

Captain Patrick Martinez, acting spokesman of the Philippine Army’s 4th Infantry Division (4ID), said the NPA gained nothing by killing government troopers as the temporary cessation of hostilities is still in effect.

“Wala silang nakamit dun (They did not attain anything) by killing those soldiers, in fact, nagkaroon pa sila ng pangit na imahe sa ating mga kababayan (they just painted a bad image of themselves in the eyes of the people),” Martinez said.

Slain were First Lieutenant Ronald Bautista, Private First Class Albert Amor and Renel Baluca, a member of the Civilian Armed Force Geographical Unit (Cafgu).

In a news report, Lieutenant Vergel Lacambra, 10th Infantry Division spokesman, said the soldiers, on board a motorcycle, were waylaid by at least eight armed insurgents.

The ambush occurred 11 days after the government declared a ceasefire from December 18, 2014 to January 19, 2015.

NPA ceasefire

For their part, the NPA had declared its parallel ceasefire only on December 24-26, December 31-January 1, and on January 15-19, 2015 in time for the visit of Pope Francis to the country.

Bautista, who hailed from Nabanga, Bohol, was a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) class of 2011. Both his parents are farmers.

Before he joined the PMA, Martinez said Bautista helped her mother sell rice cakes. His parents were excited when he told them he would be joining the family reunion in Bohol.

Bautista’s father was in the rice field when the news of what happened to his son reached him.

“Nadurog ‘yung damdamin niya. Imbes ang buhay siyang inuwi, eh nasa kabaong na siyang inuwi (His father felt crushed. Instead of seeing his son alive, he was brought home in a coffin),” Martinez added.

The three were on their New Year break when the rebels fired at them. They came from a hinterland village in Anitapan, Compostela Valley where their platoon was deployed for community outreach activities during the Yuletide season, Martinez added.

The killed soldiers were part of the military’s community organizing for peace and development (COPD) assigned in said province.

“Kalunos-lunos ang sinapit ng ating mga sundalo (What happened to our soldiers was deplorable). They were on their way to their [respective places]. Naka-sibilyan, walang kalaban-laban, eh pinagpapatay ng NPA, sa kabila ng kanilang pag-declare ng sincerity sa pagbukas nila sa usaping peace talk (They were on civilian mode and unarmed, but they were killed by the NPA, despite the latter’s declaration of sincerity in renewal of peace talks),” Martinez said.

He said the soldiers are similar to the NPAs who also come from ordinary families.
What sets them apart from each other, he added, is that the soldiers opted to be part of the solution, while the NPA preferred killing.

Martinez said the message of Major General Oscar Lactao, 4ID commander, to the NPAs is for them to realize that the guerrillas are just being used by their leaders to kill fellow Filipinos.

“Ginagamit lang sila na pumatay ng katulad nilang ordinaryong tao, pwede nilang kababayan o kamag-anak (They were just being utilized to kill simple folk, it could be their neighbor or even relatives),” he added.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cagayan-de-oro/local-news/2015/01/02/ambush-may-put-npa-bad-light-384667