It is the first time that the New People's Army's Far South Mindanao command has freed a prisoner of war
FREED. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo chats with Pfc Khen Subere after his release from captivity. All photos by Edwin Espejo/Rappler
KIAMBA, Sarangani – Bad weather did not derail the release by the New People's Army (NPA) of Pfc Khen Subere to Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday, June 13, in a remote village south of Mindanao.
The 26-year-old Subere was held captive for two months by the communist rebel group. But Ka Dindo, head of the sub-regional committee of the Far South Mindanao Region-NPA command, said their investigation failed to establish Subere’s human rights violations.
The rebel leader said it took them a while to free Subere because of the military operations conducted by the 27th infantry Battalion.
It was the first time the NPA’s regional command has released a "prisoner of war."
Subere appeared to be in good health and in high spirits when he was turned over to Duterte.
Duterte said Subere's parents approached him for help. Subere had a tearful reunion with his parents and two other siblings before he boarded the helicopter with Duterte.
Duterte also served as an intermediary for the NPA and the families of their captives in previous occasions.
RELEASE PAPERS. Ka Dindo, head of the sub-regional committee of the Far South Mindanao Region-NPA command, signs Subere's release papers.
Turned over to the military
Subere asked that he be brought home, but Duterte said he would turn him over to the 10th Infantry Division. The military unit declared Subere absent without official leave (AWOL) a day after he was captured by the rebels.
“I don’t like idea that you will be declared AWOL (because you were held) hostage,” the mayor said.
Subere was on his way back to the camp after visiting his relatives in Tboli, South Cotabato when the NPA captured him.
He was dropped from the rolls of active enlisted men by 27th Infantry Battalion commander Lt Col Ronald Alcudia on April 23.
The last time the NPA command in the region held prisoners of war was in 2001. The NPA would eventually execute their 4 captives they accused as being government spies.
Peace talks with local communists have failed to end the communist insurgency, the longest in Asia, which has claimed about 30,000 lives by official estimates.
http://www.rappler.com/nation/96289-npa-releases-soldier-duterte
Duterte has a way too cozy relationship with the NPA. The insurgents seem to routinely release captured government security personnel to his care. At times he seems to take a neutral stand with regard to the NPA, which is strange for a government official that should be committed to defending the Philippines from enemies both foreign and domestic. I believe at one time he even said that companies should pay "revolutionary taxes," a euphemism for extortion payments, to the NPA because its presence and operations in the Philippines were a fact of life. Incredible.
ReplyDeleteAs an added note: Why has the NPA resorted to the abduction of ordinary soldiers/policemen in Mindanao over the past several years? The abduction and subsequent release of government security personnel appears to be part of an effort to establish a precedent that can be exploited by CPP/NDF peace negotiators engaged in peace talks with the Manila government in an effort to gain the release of captured/detained NDF/NPA insurgent leaders. Communist negotiators can point to the "humanitarian" release of soldiers and policemen and demand a quid-pro-quo from government negotiators. Not a bad deal. Abduct and release low-level ordinary security personnel and then demand that the government correspondingly release senior NDF/NPA insurgent leaders. At the very least they might be able to score propaganda points against the government when Manila refuses to release captured senior commie leaders.
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