NPA offer to free 4 captive cops as 'goodwill' toward peace talks' resumption

From InterAksyon (Jul 22): NPA offer to free 4 captive cops as 'goodwill' toward peace talks' resumption



NDF Mindanao spokesman Jorge Madlos (InterAksyon.com file photo by Alex Baluyut)

Communist rebels in Mindanao who captured four policemen in Surigao del Norte earlier this month have offered to release them on July 25 as a “goodwill gesture” towards the resumption of peace talks with the government.

A statement issued Tuesday by Jorge “Ka Oris” Madlos, spokesman of the National Democratic Front in Mindanao, said the rebels also “intentionally skipped the preliminary investigation and possible trial” of Police Officer 3 Vice Calubag Concon, PO1s Rey O’niel Morales, Joen B. Zabala and Edito F. Roquino as part of the gesture.

The NDF is the umbrella organization of underground groups led by the Communist Party of the Philippines and represents the rebels in peace talks.

The policemen were captured by a rebel “blocking force” on July 10 as the New People’s Army raided the police station in Alegria town. Two guerrillas died and two policemen were wounded in the incident, which netted the rebels several firearms.

However, Madlos said the release of the captives, who the rebels consider "prisoners of war," hinges on security forces’ suspending offensive operations “from noon of 22 July until one week after the actual date of release, in the mainland towns of Surigao del Norte, including Surigao City, and the municipalities Kitcharao, Jabonga, and Santiago of Agusan del Norte, and that all evacuees from these areas are able to return safely to their respective barangays.”

Earlier, Major General Ricardo Visaya, commander of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, rejected rebel calls for a ceasefire to facilitate the policemen’s release.

Madlos explained that the cessation of government operations is necessary for the NPA unit holding the captives “to safely fulfill the requirements for the release of the POWs” and warned that, “should there be continued military operations three days before the actual release, these preparations cannot effectively be undertaken, and therefore, we will cancel their release to protect the safety of the POWs and the NPA custodial force.”

This, he added, would pave the way for the policemen’s “preliminary investigations and possible judicial trial.”

Once the military declares a suspension of military operations “and other forms of military activities, including civic-military operations in the area,” the rebels would declare their own temporary truce, Madlos added.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/91692/npa-offer-to-free-4-captive-cops-as-goodwill-toward-peace-talks-resumption