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Sunday, April 24, 2005
Mayor to condemn rebel's slaying of Marine sergeant
By Ben O. Tesiorna
DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is set to condemn the death of Marine Sergeant Jeremias Rosete in the hands of his abductors, the New People's Army (NPA).
In a casual talk last week, Duterte said officials of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the NPA called him up saying they are sending an emissary to talk to him and explain to him the reason for the execution of Rosete and three other civilians sometime in 2002.
Duterte said he told the CPP-NPA not to exert anymore effort since he personally believe that the execution of Rosete runs contrary to the Geneva Convention on the proper handling of prisoners of war.
The mayor said he is just looking for the right moment to make public his condemnation.
Duterte earlier demanded an explanation from the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People's Army, on the reported execution of Staff Sergeant Jeremias Rosete, whose skeletal remains were exhumed in Sultan Kudarat early this month.
"I would like to know why. I hope you can explain to the people why you killed a prisoner of war (POW). Just kindly give us an idea how you came about killing a POW when you had long been insisting on the observance of the Geneva Convention," Duterte said on his regular TV program.
In a letter dated April 5, the CPP's Mindanao Commission confirmed that the Valentin Palamine Command of Far South Region meted Rosete and his colleagues identified as Wilfredo Maldecir, Pepito Simbulan and Herminia Sorongon with the maximum penalty of death on September 6, 2002.
The CPP said its Regional Trial Court carried out the sentence after a thorough investigation and trial.
"The four accused were found guilty beyond reasonable doubt. In their trial they were provided with lawyers of their own choosing and they freely raised their points. During their detention and trial they were accorded humane treatment," the CPP said.
The CPP said Rosete and his cohorts had long been active in their counter-revolutionary activities inflicting damage to the New People's Army (NPA) and the revolutionary movement."
The communist group said even during their detention at the NPA camp the four still continued gathering information about the revolutionary movement and made plans of escaping.
The NPA claimed Maldecir and Sorongon attempted to escape last June 4, 2002.
The CPP said the government is partly to be blamed for the execution of the four saying that instead of entering into a negotiation with them for the safe release of the four the military instead launched a large-scale rescue military operation that resulted to the death of some of the rebels.
"The government and its military arm, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), showed no concern for their agents," the CPP said.
Rosete and government intelligence agents Maldecir, Simbulan and Sorongon were abducted by the NPA in Columbio, Sultan Kudarat on September 4, 2001 for allegedly spying on the rebel group's activities in the area.
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (April 24, 2005 issue)
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