Eight hostages held by NPA in Agusan del Sur released —military

From GMA News (Feb 20, 2019): Eight hostages held by NPA in Agusan del Sur released —military

The New People's Army on Tuesday released in Agusan del Sur eight hostages remaining in its hands, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said.

The hostages were said to be released in the vicinity of Purok 9, Sitio Hugmakan, Barangay San Juan in Bayugan City at 2:25 p.m.

In a statement, the military said the NPA released the hostages "due to fear of lost mass support due to condemnations by various communities and their mounting serious violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL)."

The military quoted Charlita Quiao, wife of one of the hostages, as saying that the abduction was "the worst experience our family ever encountered that brought the family in chaos due to fear and sadness." Aside from her husband, her son-in-law was also said to have been taken hostage by the rebel group.

The AFP said the hostages will be given time to be with their families but will undergo medical and psychological treatment as well.

The rebel group previously released six abducted government militiamen also in Agusan del Sur on Thursday, according to the military.

Another two hostages were freed on Monday in Barangay San Antonio in the municipality of Remedios T. Romualdez, Agusan del Norte "due to fatigue and pressure from the pursuing Army and PNP [Philippine National Police] troops," the military added.

On Friday, 295 Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) gunmen and their supporters voluntarily surrendered in Gigaquit, Surigao del Norte, the military said.

After the municipalities of Sibagat, Agusan del Sur and Gigaguit, Surigao del Norte initiated action against the NPAs, more areas declared the CPP-NPA as "persona non-grata," the AFP added.

Brigadier General Franco Nemesio M. Gacal, commander of the Philippine Army 4th Infantry Battalion, said the AFP will continue its intensified efforts against the rebel group.

"Terrorist acts and unreasonable demands by the NPA will never resolve peace and development concerns. Intensified efforts against NPA terrorists will push through. We will do our best, with the cooperation of cognizant government bodies to put an end to insurgency by addressing issues and concern of Conflict Affected Areas (ConAAs) in 4ID area of responsibility. The Board of Inquiry (BOI) will continue with their deeper investigation to find out exact details and to come up with a fair and just decisions of the command," he said.

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