Soldier killed in Davao City roadside blast

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—A soldier was killed when a landmine, allegedly planted by communist rebels, exploded on a roadside near a school in a remote village here Wednesday.

Lieutenant Colonel Lyndon Paniza, spokesman of the 10th Infantry Division, said that an explosive planted by New People’s Army rebels ripped through a security patrol of the 69th Infantry Battalion in Barangay (village) Paquibato Proper around 6:30 a.m.

He added that sporadic gunfire ensued after the explosion.

The name of the slain soldier was withheld prior to information of his family, Paniza said.

He said that the security patrol was part of the Peace and Development Team of the military unit deployed in the area.

Paniza also denounced the use of explosives by the NPA, which he explained is a violation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) signed by both the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

However, the communist group has consistently denied any violations of the CARHRIHL and the Mine Ban Treaty.

NPA Southern Mindanao Spokesman Rigoberto Sanchez, in a statement posted on the group’s official website, earlier said that the rebels had been using command-detonated explosives, which have not been prohibited by any signed agreements and international protocols.

Davao’s Paquibato district is known as one of the hotspots of the communist movement in the region.—With Frances Mangosing, INQUIRER.net