Friday, January 04, 2008 Army, police uncover remains of NPA victim By Ben Serrano Caraga Correspondent
BUTUAN CITY -- Joint military and police operatives said they unearthed the remains of a victim of communist New People's Army (NPA) atrocities at Purok 7, Barangay Tamosa, Barangay Alubihid, Buenavista, Agusan del Norte Thursday afternoon.
A statement from the 402nd brigade of the Philippine Army headed by Lieutenant Colonel Emmanuel Aguaviva in Butuan City said PNP-PCR division members led by SPO2 Romeo Bahala, members of the Buenavista town police and barangay Alubihid officials exhumed the remains of a certain Rustico Del Rosario Salcedo.
Salcedo was believed to be liquidated by the communist NPA rebels and was buried at the coconut plantation owned by Cresencio Adaron sometime in 1985.
Salcedo went missing since 1985 and it was only yesterday afternoon through an informant that his remains were finally found.
Salcedo's widow, Nena Salcedo, claimed the victim's remains.
Early last year, a mass grave of victims of an NPA purging against their ranks and some civilians whom the communist rebels claimed were traitors was also discovered in Barangay Taligaman, Butuan City.
The military said one of the remains exhumed belonged to a priest, though the claim had yet to be verified.
The discovery occurred even as the communist NPA rebels attacked base camps of the Sagittarius Mines Inc. and military detachment in Barangay Tablu, Tampakan, South Cotabato last New Year's Day.
In exchange for the resumption of peace talks, the communist rebels demanded among other things that their classification along with the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front (CPP-NDF) as terrorist groups by the US and Europe be removed.
The National Government has rejected the demands, though had continued to float the offer of peace talks to the communist rebels and vowed to end the communist insurgency by 2010.
