CAGAYAN DE ORO. Army soldiers check on the surroundings of the village from the top of a bullet-riddled tanod outpost in Barangay Alagatan, Gingoog City on Tuesday, July 14, 2015. New People’s Army rebels attacked the village last Saturday killing an Army soldier and wounding two civilians. (Froilan Gallardo)
MILITARY operations against New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas holding an Army private captive will continue despite the rebels’ offer of a seven-day ceasefire.
The rebels wanted the cease-fire as a pre-condition for the release of Pfc. Adonis Jess Lupiba, whom they took prisoner Saturday during a raid in Barangay Alagatan, Gingoog City.
Captain Jo Patrick Martinez, spokesman of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division (4ID), said the Army is leaving it up to the government to decide whether to accept the NPA offer.
“That is now a political decision,” Martinez said. “Meanwhile, pursuit operations against the rebels will continue.”
Martinez said the 4ID has briefed the Army leadership on the incident at Alagatan, including the condition of Lupiba who, according to earlier reports, was already wounded when he was captured.
Martinez made the statement a day after the NPA’s North Central Mindanao Regional Operations Command spokesman Ka Allan Juanito said it is amenable to a ceasefire to facilitate the safe release of Lupiba.
“We are awaiting the formation of a local crisis committee and the third party facilitator for the arrangement of a safe and orderly release,” Juanito said in a statement.
But Juanito added the NPA is ready to hold Lupiba “as long as it takes” or until circumstances permit his release.
Juanito said the NPA is treating Lupiba as a prisoner of war (POW) and will treat him in accordance with the law of warfare under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).
Juanito said the NPA is sorry for the wounding of two civilians who were caught in the crossfire.
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cagayan-de-oro/local-news/2015/07/15/army-rejects-ceasefire-offer-418988
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