NPA rebels free 2 soldiers in North Cotabato

Communist rebels on Sunday released two Army soldiers after holding them captive for more than a month in North Cotabato province in southern Philippines. Freed in Magpet town were Cpl. Delfin Largo Sarocam and Pfc. Jayson Burgos, both members of the Army’s 57th Infantry Battalion who were seized last April 14 in President Roxas town. According to Isabel Santiago, spokesperson of the New People’s Army’s Herminio Alfonso Command, the two were released “for humanitarian reasons," citing the appeals made by the soldiers’ families and various multi-sectoral groups. Santiago said the two could have been released earlier had the military pulled out its forces engaged in the rescue operations. “The POWs’ (prisoners of war) release would have been much earlier had these Philippine Army Divisions immediately heeded the clamor of their families, the various people's organizations and well-meaning individuals," the rebel spokesperson said. Col. Prudencio Asto, public affairs chief of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the soldiers were freed around 2 p.m. through the efforts of the Crisis Management Committee. Sarocam and Burgos underwent prompt medical checkup and debriefing, Asto said. The two are temporarily placed under the custody of Col. Cesar Sedillo, commander of the Army’s 602nd Brigade, pending the process. Asto said the rebels were probably forced to release the soldiers because of the continued rescue operations mounted by government forces. He said the rebels even asked the victims’ families to appeal to the military to stop their rescue missions. “They were pressured by our operations that we conducted for the two soldiers… We pursued them without letup," said Asto. Sarocam and Valenzuela were on their way to Barangay Puas Inda in President Roxas town to conduct consultation-dialogue with the villagers when seized by the NPA rebels. They were reportedly taken somewhere in the hinterlands of Bukidnon, North Cotabato, and Davao del Sur. The rebels turned over the two to Fr. Pol Paracha, spokesperson of the For Release Now (FREN) Movement, a group organized last May 7 by members of the civil society organizations, religious sector, selected media practitioners, and relatives and friends of the soldiers to negotiate for their release. The turnover was held at the boundary of Sitios Lacuacon and Buay-Buay in Barangay Balete in Magpet, and was witnessed by Cotabato Vice Governor Greg Ipong and staff of Cotabato Governor Lala Talinio-Mendoza. — with Malu Cadelina Manar/KBK, GMA News