MANILA, Philippines — A soldier, who was on his way home, was held and blindfolded before he was fatally shot by alleged members of communist New People’s Army in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, the Philippine Army (PA) said on Thursday.
PA said the victim was identified as Pvt Mayuay Onaw, a soldier from the 4th Infantry “Scorpion” Battalion and a member of Tao Buhid tribe.
“He was only doing peace development works before he was killed,” the PA said of Onaw in a statement.
Onaw, together with his two children and four other locals, were returning home to Sitio Danlog after buying construction materials at a nearby village when they were fired upon by eight fully-armed Maoist rebels on Wednesday, according to the Army.
“Three other victims were able to escape while four of them with his children were held and blindfolded,” the Army said.
“It was later reported that his two children and another victim were released, however, Pvt Onaw was murdered with his body dumped at the location of the shooting incident,” it added.
The Army condemned the incident, saying: “These brutal attacks on the troops who were doing community peace and development works are not only an attack on the military but on the peace-loving IP communities.”
The Army also called on the Commission on Human Rights to investigate the incident.
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