NPA denies using poison on explosives

AFP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The New People’s Army on Thursday denied accusations that it used poison in the explosives that triggered a blast in Compostela Valley last Tuesday which left seven soldiers injured.

Rigoberto Sanchez, spokersperson of the NPA Southern Mindanao Regional Command, said the accusations were “malicious” and “wildly concocted” by the military.

“To insinuate that the NPA is engaged in a highly criminal biological and chemical warfare is, indeed, pure invention. NPA Red fighters have been using in the last four decades, guerrilla warfare weapons, such as but not limited to, command-detonated explosives made up of traditional, non-biologically toxic ingredients,” he said in a statement.

“The bacteria and poison are not found in the NPA bombs, but in the AFP headquarters, camps, detachments and in the AFP echelons itself,” he added.

On Wednesday, the military accused the communist rebels of putting poison on explosives in Tuesday’s attack, saying that they found traces of human feces and snake venom in the wounds of the soldiers.

“We found it on the wounds of the soldiers during examination and treatment yesterday [Wednesday] morning. It will aggravate the effect of landmines,” Lieutenant Victor Dato, medical officer of Camp Panacan Station Hospital said.

The soldiers wounded in the landmine blast were identified as: First Lieutenant Marvin Gammad, Sergeant Jonny Nacion, Privates First Class Ryan Dumagat, Sosito Palmera, Rechie Cabag, John Russel Veran and Reynold Yula.

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