AFP slams NPA use of landmine that killed soldier in Quezon

LUCENA CITY –– The Armed Forces of the Philippines strongly condemned the communist New People’s Army (NPA) rebels for its alleged use of a banned explosive device that killed an Army soldier in Lopez town, Quezon province on Sunday.

On their Facebook page, the Army brigade in the province said the blast that killed Private Kim Veluz was a violation of the International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Convention banning the use of mines, booby traps, and similar explosive devices, in which the Philippines is one of the signatories.

The military described Veluz, 23, as a “good soldier and modern-day hero” who offered his life for peace and progress of the people.

The Army said Veluz, the eldest among eight siblings, was a native of San Francisco town in the Bondoc Peninsula.

On Monday, the police reported that Veluz from the Army’s 85th Infantry Battalion was killed by an improvised explosive device blast in Barangay Sta. Rosa.

In its Facebook page, the Army’s 201st Infantry Brigade clarified that Veluz was not on board a motorcycle, but was walking along with some civilians back to the Army detachment in the village when the blast happened.

The military said the civilians were unhurt.

Police investigators were eyeing the involvement of two
Maoist-inspired guerrillas in the attack. The NPA rebels have yet to admit responsibility for the attack.

The NPA rebels have insisted that they have been using “command-detonated” landmines in their attacks as opposed to “contact-detonated” ones, which was not a violation of the mine ban treaty./lzb