Negros rebels face ‘war crime’ raps

BACOLOD CITY—The police on Thursday filed an amended complaint against the communist rebels for violating the International Humanitarian Law for the killing of nine persons and wounding of 12 others in an ambush staged in La Castellana town, Negros Occidental, about 82 kilometers south of this city.

This was the first time that the provincial police accused the New People’s Army (NPA) of violating the law on what constitutes “war crime” as defined in Republic Act No. 9851, said Senior Supt. Celestino Guara, acting director of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOPPO).

RA 9851, which took effect in 2010, penalizes war crimes, genocide and other crimes against humanity.

The police earlier filed murder complaint against 30 NPA communist insurgents who were involved in the ambush on Jan. 27 in Barangay Puso.

But only one of the respondents was identified in the complaint filed by the NOPPO at the prosecutor’s office.

Magno Flores was allegedly the squad leader of the 30 NPA rebels, who fired at the government-owned Isuzu Fuzo Canter truck loaded with more than 30 people, mostly civilians, who were heading home after attending the village fiesta at about 3:45 a.m.

Additional charges of 12 counts of frustrated murder would also be filed against respondents once the the survivors and witnesses executed sworn affidavits, said Guara.

But the complaint was amended following consultation with the lawyers of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process,  who went to La Castellana  and interviewed survivors of the ambush and family members of the nine fatalities.

With the filing of “war crimes” charges, Guara said the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front faced more difficulties in attaining a belligerency status in the eyes of the international community with the massacre of civilians.

Guera said more than 30 NPA rebels had been implicated in the complaint, including those who planned, staged and executed the ambush.

He said that based on their investigation, the ambush was staged by members of the 2nd squad of Casimba platoon of the Larangan Gerilya I, headed by Flores.

The Leonardo Panaligan Command, in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Ka JB Regalado, claimed responsibility for the ambush and apologized to the families of the civilian casualties.