NDF asks for 10-day suspension of military and police operations in Bukidnon for cop's release

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 28): NDF asks for 10-day suspension of military and police operations in Bukidnon for cop's release

The National Democratic Front (NDF) in Northern Mindanao has asked for a 10-day suspension of military and police operations in at least 74 villages in Bukidnon starting Monday so it can safely release a policeman held by communist guerrillas.

Police Officer 2 Anthony Natividad, who is assigned at the Kalilangan municipal police in Bukidnon, was on his way to the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Alagar on board his motorcycle to undergo a medical examination when taken by New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Barangay Tikalaan, Talakag town.

In a statement on Tuesday, Cesar Renerio, spokesperson of the NDF-Northcentral Mindanao Region, said they are willing to release Natividad on the condition that the army and police will order their forces to stand down in some villages in the towns of Talakag, Lantapan, Baungon, Pangantucan and Kalilangan, and in the cities of Malaybalay and Valencia.

Renerio said the NDF-NCMR, through the NPA, will declare its own temporary cessation of hostilities once law enforcers will agree to the condition.

The group assured that Natividad is in good condition as it finds no reason to detain him further.

“After a thorough investigation and background check on his personal life and as a police officer, we found out that he (Natividad) committed no crime against the people and we see no reason to keep him,” Renerio said.

The communist rebels have also asked for the cooperation of local third-party facilitators and the local crisis committee of Bukidnon to ensure that the police officer can safely go back home to his family.

The military, for its part, will wait for instructions from President Rodrigo Duterte, through the Department of National Defense, before it could act on the NDF’s request, said Capt. Joe Patrick Martinez, spokesperson of the Philippine Army’s 4th Infantry Division.

Martinez said if there are moves from third-party facilitators and the local crisis committee to arrange for Natividad’s release, then the Armed Forces of the Philippines will welcome it.

Martinez, however, said that the rescue operation for Natividad conducted by government troopers is ongoing as of Monday, March 27, the supposed start of the 10-day suspension of military and police operations requested by NDF-NCMR.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=975625