Communist rebels urged to surrender Davao bombing suspects

MANILA -- Government peace negotiators on Friday slammed the refusal of the New People's Army (NPA) to surrender the suspects behind the grenade attack in Paquibato district, Davao City that injured 47 people, mostly children.

In a statement, the Government of the Philippines Monitoring Committee (GPH-MC) said it would be better for the NPA to turn over the perpetrators of the bombing than to impose sanctions that has never been open to the public, the media, and the government.

The NPA had said it will pay P5,000 to each of the victims as it admitted that the grenade was intended for a nearby military detachment but was mistakenly lobbed into a civilian crowd gathered for a circus performance on September 1.

"The NPA has long maintained that its forces are well-versed in Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (HR-IHL)," the GPH-MC said. "In signing the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Laws (CARHRIHL) through its political entity the National Democratic Front (NDF), the NPA has in effect held itself accountable to these standards."

The GPH-MC is the counterpart of the National Democratic Front-Monitoring Committee.

Both committees form the Joint Monitoring Committee, an entity that oversees and ensures compliance to CARHRIHL.

Government peace panel chair Alexander Padilla said the incident was a grave violation of human rights and will not lead to any meaningful resolution to issues being raised by the communist rebels.

"If the group sincerely wants to put a solution to the country's problems, the rightful way would be to go back to the negotiating table with the government and exhaust ways on how to work together in reaching just and lasting peace," Padilla said. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)