ELCAC’s RTF 6 condemns killing of civilians in Masbate

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 9, 2021): ELCAC’s RTF 6 condemns killing of civilians in Masbate (By Perla Lena)

DEPLORED. Associate Provincial Prosecutor Flosemer Chris I. Gonzales said on Tuesday (June 8, 2021) the Western Visayas Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict is condemning the killing of two civilians in Masbate. He said the terrorist group “must be brought to the bars of justice”. (PNA file photo)

The Western Visayas Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF 6-ELCAC) has called for the end of terrorism in the country as it condemned the killing of two civilians in Masbate by an anti-personnel mine (APM) explosion planted by the New People's Army (NPA).

Killed in the June 6 blast were Far Eastern University (FEU) football player Keith Absalon and his cousin Nolven Absalon, while Nolven's son Chrisbin Daniel was wounded.

“We condemn the NPA for their dastardly act of terrorism claiming the lives of Keith and Nolven. Precious lives have been lost. The NPA must suffer the consequences of their barbaric and atrocious act. The terror must end. The terrorists must be brought to the bars of justice,” said the RTF 6 ELCAC statement released Tuesday night.

Task Force spokesperson Flosemer Chris I. Gonzales, associate provincial prosecutor, said the CPP-NPA’s policy on the use of APM in their “desperate effort to project an illusion of 'strength' has claimed the lives of countless civilians and has maimed countless others over the years”.

He added that it was a manifestation of the terrorist group’s lack of respect for life.

“It is merely another terrorist organization believing in the lies of its leaders who are living luxurious and entitled lives far from the perils of close quarter combat and the hardships in their jungle hideouts and lairs,” he said.

Gonzales said the NPA is merely a “killing machine” hiding behind the façade of being “revolutionaries”.

They are “nothing more than just a bunch of brainwashed and misguided group of individuals rallying to a dying cause that has lost all form of substance and relevance,” he added.

He added that the country has had enough of the terrorist group's atrocities even if some of the politicians have remained deaf and blind to their violence.

The use of APMs is a violation of the International Humanitarian Law and the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention adopted by the international community, prohibiting the acquisition, production, stockpiling, and use of weapons.

The Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1143092