Reds mull release of captive soldier in Bukidnon

From the Philippine News Agency (May 19): Reds mull release of captive soldier in Bukidnon

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) said the New People's Army (NPA) is considering releasing a soldier they captured recently in time for the fifth round of peace negotiations between the government and communist rebels later this month.

In a statement released to the media Friday, the NDFP said the NPA would release Technical Sergeant Joseph Paredes, a member of the Army’s 8th Infantry Battalion, as a gesture of support to the peace talks between the government and the Communist Party of Philippines (CPP).

The NDFP has also appealed to church leaders, who are acting as third party facilitators, to intervene in the eventual freedom of Paredes.

The rebels have asked the military and the Philippine National Police to stop their respective combat operations within the region as one of its demands.

Bishop Felixberto Calang, of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), also a co-convener of the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform, one of the third party facilitators, said they will coordinate with Bukidnon Governor Jose Maria Zubiri Jr. for the release of Paredes.

In an interview Thursday afternoon, Juliana De Falconeri, wife of Paredes, said that she would be thankful if the NPA would release his husband because “our family depends so much on him as the bread winner.”

She said that Paredes is neither an intelligence officer of the military nor a combatant.

She said her husband is an "ordinary soldier who works in the military as an office worker."

http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/989283