Suspected NPA rebs seize 2 govt militiamen in CamSur

Suspected communist rebels on Thursday abducted two government militiamen after torching two heavy equipment owned by a private firm in Camarines Sur province, a military official said. Major Harold Cabunoc, spokesman of the Philippine Army's 9th Infantry Division, said the two militiamen were seized shortly after armed men believed to be members of the New People’s Army (NPA) burned down two motor graders owned by Sunwest Corporation at about 10:40 a.m. in Sto. Niño village in Bula town. The two abducted members of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU) were identified as Edwin Bilando and Stanley Furtugues. Both were unarmed when seized, Cabunoc said. Cabunoc said the attack was connected to the NPA’s extortion activities in the province. "Pinapatuloy nila yung kanilang extortion scheme dito sa Kabikulan at kung hindi magbigay itong construction company na nag-iimplement ng development projects ng pamahalaan ay kanilang sinusunog at inaatake," Cabunoc said. (This is part of the rebels’ extortion racket here in the Bicol region. They usually attack construction companies that do not give in to their extortion demands.) He noted that the torched heavy equipment were being used in the Panoypoyan-Minalabac road project. Major General Ruperto Pabustan, commander of the 9th ID, appealed to the abductors to respect the human rights of the two captured CAFGU members. "Respect [their] human rights and dapat na hindi papatayin itong in-abduct ng [NPA] kasi sa hanay naman ng Philippine Army, ang lahat ng nahuli namin ay binuhay naman," Pabustan said. (We are asking the abductors to respect the human rights of their captives because we are doing that on rebels we have captured.) He cited as an example Reynante Mortel, a 40-year-old rebel commander captured during an encounter with government troops on the day of the recently-concluded elections. "Wala naman kaming pinatay sa mga captured namin. (Si Mortel ay) hindi ito binaril, kahit nahuli ito sa isang encounter (We have never killed any rebel captured in battle)," he said. Pabustan has personally visited the site to assess the situation and has already directed the Army's 902nd Brigade to conduct pursuit operations against the rebels. — Mark Dalan Merueñas/KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV