Philippine News Agency • June 12, 2020
Army hits NPA killing of militiaman, village official in Surigao
KILLED BY NPA. The remains of a militiaman and former village councilor who were abducted and killed in April 2019 by suspected communist New People’s Army rebels are exhumed Tuesday (June 9, 2020) in the hinterland village of Ima in Sison town, Surigao del Norte. Mayor Karissa Fetalvero-Paronia warned residents not to fall prey to the rebels' recruitment. (Photo courtesy of 30IB)
BUTUAN CITY--The Philippine Army in Surigao del Norte condemned the communist New People’s Army (NPA) for the abduction and killing of a militiaman and a village councilor in Sison town.
Lt. Col. Ryan Charles Callanta, commander of the Army's 30th Infantry Battalion, said the military joins the grief of the victims' families, local officials, and peace advocates in denouncing the NPA for the killing of Bertoldo Rangas and Ermil Madrona.
Authorities said Rangas, a village councilor in Barangay Gacepan in Sison town, and Madrona, a member of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU), were abducted by the NPA and eventually found dead in April last year.
Their bodies were exhumed by authorities in the hinterlands of Barangay Ima in Sison on Tuesday following the revelation of a former NPA combatant on the location of their knee-deep grave in the hinterland village of Ima in Sison.
Mayor Karissa Fetalvero-Paronia, was present during the exhumation along with the victims' families.
Callanta said the killing of Madrona and Rangas showed that NPA rebels "are no longer ideologues as manifested by their barbaric, murderous, and terroristic acts".
“Along with the peace-loving people of Surigao del Norte, we strongly condemn the barbaric act of the NPA terrorists as they abduct and inhumanely killed innocent civilians,” Callanta said in a statement on Thursday (June 11).
“Such crime is another clear and blatant violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) under Republic Act 9851. The civilians are non-combatants and therefore, they have to be spared and protected at all costs,” he said.
The RA 9851 defines and penalizes crimes against IHL, genocide, and other crimes against humanity.
Callanta assured the 30IB will assist in the investigation of the killings to serve justice on the victims and their families.
'We demand justice'
Madrona's widow, who was not named, was quoted by the 30IB as saying in the dialect: "I was praying every day for him to come home alive. Now, I was informed about their fate. He was mercilessly killed and buried by the terrorists."
"It is hard to accept, they are innocents and we are living simple lives yet they succumbed to such fate. We demand for justice,” the wife added.
Meanwhile, Fetalvero-Paronia warned residents to reject NPA recruitment in their villages, noting that the communist rebels have been aggressively enlisting young people and members of the indigenous peoples (IPs).
The NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. (PNA)
