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Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Troops raid big rebel camp, confiscate bombs
DAVAO CITY -- Government forces overran a major camp of communist rebels in Mindanao and seized a large cache of explosives after weeks of fighting that left two soldiers dead and a dozen others wounded.
The camp has 164 bunkers spread through the villages of Busni and St. Peter in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon and part of San Luis in Agusan del Sur and was used by the rebels for training.
A still undetermined number of communist rebels were believed killed or wounded as fighting between government forces and the communist New People's Army (NPA) in Bukidnon entered its third week Monday, officials said Monday.
The camp was seized on Thursday last week and during clearing operations, government troops found a satellite camp about 200 meters away from the main rebel camp, said Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Simbajon.
Troops are currently pursuing the rebels fleeing from their camp, he said.
Major General Carduso Luna, Army's 4th Infantry Division commander, said they found in the main and satellite camps 125 drums containing 120 dynamite sticks, other improvised explosives, and a sack of subversive documents.
Simbajon described the rebel camp as heavily fortified and surrounded by dangerous terrain. He said military helicopters were used to flush out the rebels. "The enemy camp is well fortified so we have sent more soldiers, backed by aircrafts, in the area to neutralize the NPA forces," he said.
A number of skirmishes have occurred in Malaybalay since June 8 when the military began to go after a group of NPA rebels that burned heavy equipment belonging to a construction firm.
Simbajon said at least 77 families or 300 persons have been already evacuated from the area. He said relief authorities, including soldiers, are attending to the needs of the evacuees.
Fighting in the countryside escalated following the breakdown of the peace talks between communist rebels and the government collapsed in 2004. The National Democratic Front, which has the NPA as its armed wing, pulled out from the negotiations because of its inclusion in the terror lists of the United States and the European Union on Manila's prodding.
Rebels demanded that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ask the United States and the European Union to strike them off from the terror lists before they resume peace talks. The government has rejected the demand and suspended safety and immunity guarantees for rebel peace negotiators, following the collapse of the talks.
Arroyo has ordered the military to crush the NPA and set aside one billion pesos for the military to help fight insurgency and terrorism.
Despite her order, Catholic bishops and Muslim ulamas are conducting "back channel" talks to get the peace negotiations between the government and communist group back on track.
Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla, convenor of the Bishops-Ulama Conference (BUC) and former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said they are exerting all efforts to convince both parties to resume peace negotiations.
He did not provide details, saying "elaboration is not allowed; the process is private and discrete."
Capalla added that "peace is the only way" and appealed to both parties to resume negotiations.
Senator Ma. Ana Consuelo "Jamby" Madrigal was in the Netherlands Monday to meet with the National Democratic Front (NDF) over its suspended peace talks with the government.
"I am doing this as a senator and as a peace advocate who believes that a political and peaceful settlement is still the best way to address the so-called insurgency movement," she said.
Madrigal went to the Netherlands after she personally brought to the attention of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) in Geneva, Switzerland the worsening human rights violations in the country.
The UNHCHR held its 13th session of the Meeting of Special Rapporteurs/Representatives/Independent Experts last June 19 to 23 where Madrigal, together with Bayan Muna party-list Representative Satur Ocampo, raised the issue of human rights violation in the Philippines. (Sun.Star Zamboanga/Sun.Star Davao/VR/MSN/REC/Sunnex)
(June 27, 2006 issue)
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