Duterte airlifts wounded female rebel to hospital

DAVAO CITY—Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte yesterday personally fetched from a hospital in Bislig, Surigao del Sur, a female New People’s Army (NPA) rebel, who was wounded in a clash with government troops near Compostela Valley on Sunday.

Two other wounded rebels had to be left behind because they were not fit to be transported.

Duterte, who used a private plane in transporting Vanessa delos Reyes, a resident of Calinan District, to a government hospital here, said the NPA earlier sought his help to have her airlifted  to this city. Delos Reyes will be treated for a gunshot wound in the abdomen.

Duterte described his move as an act of “goodwill and reciprocation to the previous good gesture of the rebels when they released their prisoners of war whom we wanted freed.”

Maj. Jacob Obligado, spokesperson of the Eastern Mindanao command, said only Delos Reyes was transported because two others—Jason Casilum and Ariel Haducana—were in serious condition.

“The travel could do them more harm than good,” Obligado said. He said Delos Reyes’ fate now lies in the hands of the police.