Military, communist rebels on warpath in Mindanao once again
DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Hostilities between soldiers and communist rebels have resumed in an escalating fashion in Mindanao, with clashes taking place one after another as the fate of the peace talks still hangs in the balance.
Nearly two dozen combatants on both sides have either been killed or wounded in the clashes that have taken place since Monday this week alone.
On Jan. 15, the government and the Communist Party of the Philippines ended unilateral holiday ceasefires, signaling the resumption of skirmishes in the countryside, with each side accusing the other of initiating the engagements.
The latest violence took place in Tigbao, Zamboanga del Sur, around 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, according to a report reaching the military’s Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) based in Zamboanga City.
The report from the 4th Scout Ranger Battalion said soldiers were patrolling in Barangay (village) Mati when the clash took place. As a result, three New People’s Army rebels were killed and their firearms recovered, the report said, adding three soldiers were wounded.
In Makilala, North Cotabato, one soldier was killed while another one was wounded in a clash on Tuesday in Barangay Kabilao, a village that borders the province and Davao del Sur, Lt. Col. Noel Dela Cruz, commander of the Army’s 57th Infantry Battalion, said.
He said soldiers were on patrol when they were fired upon by some 40 rebels as they were going up Mt. Matungis in Kabilao.
Dela Cruz said some villagers fled their homes for fear of getting caught in the crossfire and had taken refuge in the village center.
He said the military fired artillery rounds at the fleeing rebels.
Norma Capuyan, North Cotabato coordinator of Katribu Partylist, said three villagers went missing at the height of the clash and their fate remained uncertain as of Wednesday.
In Davao City, a soldier was also hit when an NPA sniper fired on elements of the 84th Infantry Battalion, who were patrolling a remote area of Barangay Tawan-tawan in Baguio district, on Tuesday, Simon Santiago, a rebel spokesperson, said.
Santiago said the incident was among “the many region-wide punitive actions” the NPA had launched during the last three days in Southern Mindanao “as the revolutionary forces escalate the campaign to protect the environment and against its plunderers.”
“The 84th IB has been raring to start full-scale offensive against the New People’s Army’s Guerrilla Front 54 Operations Command,” Santiago said.
He said that days before the ceasefire unilaterally declared by both the government and the CPP had expired, the military had already deployed soldiers in Baguio district and had prepared for a major offensive.
Still on Tuesday, a soldier died and 13 others were injured when a military vehicle hit a landmine planted by communist rebels in Lupon, Davao Oriental.
Lt. Col. Lyndon Paniza, spokesperson of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, identified the slain soldier as Private First Class Jhassam Diaz, who succumbed to shrapnel wounds while being transported to a government hospital in Tagum City.
Paniza said soldiers from the 28th IB were traveling in a convoy as they headed back to their headquarters in Lupon proper after assisting in the relief operations for flood victims when the landmine exploded beneath one of the vehicles.
He said the attack was “a clear manifestation of the NPA’s disrespect for international humanitarian law.”
The Lupon attack came a day after soldiers, who were on a search-and-rescue operation for a soldier and a policeman abducted by NPA rebels last week, twice clashed with communist guerrillas in Laak, Compostela Valley. Paniza did not provide additional details of the Laak clash. Reports from Julie Alipala, Carlo Agamon, Ayan Mellejor, Frinston Lim and Karlos Manlupig, Inquirer Mindanao
