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Wednesday, May 14, 2008
3 rebels killed in Compostela Valley clashes
By Ben O. Tesiorna and Jeffrey M. Tupas
DAVAO CITY -- Three rebels were reportedly killed while several others were wounded when government soldiers and members of the New People's Army (NPA) clashed in three succeeding incidents from Monday afternoon to Tuesday morning.
Colonel Rolando Bautista, spokesman of the Army's 10th Infantry Division, said elements of the Army's 1001st Brigade under Colonel Allan Luga engaged the rebels from Pulang Bagani Company 5 of the NPA-Southern Mindanao Regional Command in Barangay Mangayon, Compostela town.
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Bautista said the first encounter was against some 30 rebels. It happened around 4:30 p.m. of May 12 and resulted to the death of one rebel and the recovery of an M14 rifle.
At 6 p.m., about 20 rebels again clashed with the Army soldiers. Another rebel was killed and government troopers recovered an M16 rifle.
The third encounter occurred May 13 at around 7:30 a.m. where 10 rebels engaged the soldiers in a fight. It resulted to the death of another rebel and the recovery of a caliber .45 pistol.
Bautista said no government soldier was killed in the three encounters. He surmised that several rebels were also wounded as indicated in the blood trails they saw in the clash sites.
The bodies of the three rebels were brought to the Compostela municipal hall for proper verification.
The government soldiers also recovered medical equipment, subversive documents and other personal belongings in the site.
Bautista said they will keep on pursuing the rebels until they leave the region.
Displaced
The fresh wave of military operations against communists have reportedly displaced at least 32 lumad families, 83 of them children, from Barangay Mangayon in Compostela town, Compostela Valley province.
Human rights group Karapatan-Southern Mindanao expressed concern over the condition of the 32 families or about 149 Ata-Manobo and Matigsalog individuals.
Kelly Delgado, secretary general of Karapatan-Southern Mindanao, said the evacuees are now temporarily sheltered at the Compostela town gymnasium.
Delgado said the residents left their village around 9 p.m. Monday after the Army's 1001st Brigade launched massive military operations.
Military operations against the NPA, said Delgado, started at around 3 p.m. Monday.
"The residents fled for fear that they will be caught in the crossfire or be subjected again to military abuses, harassments and intimidations. The people have the reason to fear the soldiers of the government because of their (military) bad record of violating basic rights of people. The military is ruthless and this ruthlessness is hounding the civilians who are often suspected as supporters of the NPA or worse, as members of the communist movement," the Human rights official said.
Delgado called on the government, the municipal, and provincial leadership to make urgent actions to stop military operations in the area to prevent their constituents from suffering the effects of government-led atrocities.
"We demand the stop of the military operations as these lead to bloodshed and ruin the lives of the hapless civilians," Delgado said.
But Colonel Bautista branded calls for military withdrawal as a way of putting pressure to the military "to allow the free movement of the NPA."
"The presence of the troops prevents the NPA from conducting extortion from the business investors in the area," he said.
Bautista added that the military offensive will continue to finish the NPAs and free the populace from the bondage of NPA abuses and atrocities in the area.
But Delgado said they are only worried about the civilians. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cebu. (May 14, 2008 issue)
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