INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – The New People’s Army should have spared civilians in its recent simultaneous attacks in Bukidnon on Tuesday night, the military said.
Army’s 4th Infantry Division spokesman Colonel Eugenio Osias IV said the rebels were capitalizing on soft targets and “shouldn’t be including civilians.”
A security guard was killed while three others, including a civilian, were wounded when suspected communist rebels attacked simultaneously in at least three areas in Bukidnon, including the offices of Dole and Del Monte Philippines.
In condemning the incident, the military said the attacks were “clear and deliberate violation” of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law to which the NPA is one of the signatories.
“The NPA’s recent atrocity violates Chapter III, Section 4, Item 2 of Republic Act 9851 or the Act of Defining and Penalizing Crimes against International Humanitarian Law which defines one of the “war crimes” as the intentional attack against civilian objects or non-military personnel, and/or properties,” said Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Colonel Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr. in a statement.
“The Dole Plantation is not a military installation or camp; it is a civilian workplace that continues to provide jobs to the people living within the community. We see this recent NPA-initiated violent activity as one of their ways to sabotage the livelihood of our people in the community, and our country’s economic development,” he added.
The AFP also called on owners of big businesses and economic establishments not to give in to NPA’s extortion demands, “which will only bolster their means to conduct terroristic activities.”
The military has immediately deployed a battalion of soldiers to pursue the perpetrators.
Osias said they have already “stabilized” the situation, and divided responsibilities with the Philippine National Police in dealing with the rebels.
Meanwhile, the National Democratic Front-Mindanao spokesperson Jorge “Ka Oris” Madlos said in a statement Wednesday that the simultaneous attacks on the plantations in Bukidnon are “punitive measures” against the multinational corporations whose operations in the province are among the main causes of the massive flooding in Cagayan de Oro during typhoon Sendong.
“This is one way of delivering justice to the 2,000 people who died in the floods,” he added
“We have been calling on the owners and operators of these plantations to reorient their businesses and stop the expansion of their plantations in Mindanao,” added Madlos. “These plantations have caused grave damage to the environment.”
Madlos claimed that the Del Monte and Dole companies are among the biggest multinational corporations operating in the Philippines. Del Monte has 23,000 hectares of pineapple plantations in the country. Its Camp Philips plantation in Bukidnon spans 9,000 hectares. It also operates a 5,000-hectare banana plantation in Agusan del Norte. Dole Philippines, on the other hand, operates more than 35,000 hectares of pineapple and banana plantations in various parts of Mindanao.
The CPP also called on for subjecting these plantations to land reform and converting these to the production of food crops primarily for local consumption.
“We must put an end to the dominance and control of foreign big multinational corporations which decide which crops to produce for the export market,” Madlos said.
He also urged the NPAs in various parts of Mindanao to continue stepping up its offensives against foreign multinational corporations.