NPA releases officer, to free four others

By BEN SERRANO
Correspondent

 BUTUAN City–The New People’s Army (NPA) yesterday freed a police officer it has been holding captive since last month in Tandag City in Surigao del Sur.

The NPA said it also plans to release four other captives today.

The Surigao del Sur Provincial Police Office confirmed that rebels released PO1 Richard Yu in Pokyotan, Barangay Awasian in Tandag at around noontime.

Yu, 36, of the Carmen police in Surigao del Sur, was seized by rebels in Barangay San Vicente of the same town in July 5.

He was met by members of his family and local officials who received him from an NPA leader identified only as “Ka Sandara.”

Receiving him were a group of officials that included Surigao del Sur  Vice Gov. Manuel Alameda and Tandag Vice Mayor Ruel Momo.

The NPA is scheduled to free four other captives–PO2 Caleb Sinaca, PO3 Jayroll Bagayas and police station civilian worker Rodrigo Angob of the Malimono police, and and SPO3 Santiago Lamanilao of the Surigao City police in Surigao del Norte today, said the National Democratic Front (NDF).

Truce

Yu was freed after the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) extended up to Aug. 31 its suspension of all offensive operations in Surigao del Sur and Surigao del Norte for the facilitation of the release of the NPA’s “prisoners of war.”

The CPP-NPA declared Friday last week a seven-day unilateral ceasefire that started 12:01 am on Aug. 21 to 11:59 midnight of Aug. 27 to “celebrate and bolster” the formal resumption of talks with the government in Oslo, Norway.

The extension, said CPP-NPA-NDF Northeastern Mindanao Region spokesperson Ka Maria Malaya, is intended to ensure the safety and security of the “prisoners of war,” the third party facilitators, the NPA custodial units, and all those who will witness the release.

Malaya said that with President Duterte’s declaration of a unilateral ceasefire, they also expect that the Armed Forces, National Police, and Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit and paramilitary forces to suspend their offensive operations.

“Should the AFP-PNP-Cafgu units fail to comply with the directive, they shall be subject to counter-offensive and active-defense military actions of the NPA after the lifting of the NPA unilateral ceasefire at the dawn of Aug. 28, 2016,” Malaya warned.

The release, according to NDF spokesperson for Mindanao Jorge Madlos, “signifies the revolutionary movement’s serious intent in pursuing peace talks between the NDFP and the GHP and as a gesture of goodwill for the resumption of formal peace talks in Oslo, Norway” that begun in Aug. 22.

Meanwhile, the government and the NDF agreed to accelerate the timetable to complete the discussion on the substantive agenda of the peace negotiations within the prescribed timetable of 6 to 12 months.

Silvestre Bello III , concurrent chair of the government peace panel, lauded the Reciprocal Working Committee (RWC) and Reciprocal Working Groups (RWG), which are composed of both panels, for setting a fixed timetable to settle the other substantive agenda.

“We, in the government panel, were surprised that the RWC and RWGs came up with agreements in so short a time. Discussions only lasted from nine minutes to 30 minutes. It was really morale-boosting for both panels,” Bello said.

The press statement also noted that both panels took a longer discussion on the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (Caser) that would touch on “the most contentious issues such as agrarian reform, national industrialization and foreign policy.” (with roel catoto and antonio colina of mindanews)