INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The military will file charges against the members of the New People’s Army involved in the landmine blast in Davao del Sur, the military said Monday.
“We will file a case against [Menandro] Villanueva and his cohorts in the local and national courts for frustrated murder and for violating the provisions of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL),” said Colonel Marcos Norman Flores Jr., Commander of the 102nd Infantry Brigade.
The CARHRIHL states that “civilians shall be treated as such, shall be distinguished from combatants, shall not be the object of attack and they shall be protected against the use of explosives such as landmines.”
“Villlanueva and his cronies will also face charges under the Republic Act 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and other crimes against humanity,” Flores said.
Based on military reports, Villanueva (alias Nelson), secretary of the Southern Mindanao Regional Committee, ordered Roberto Rosete (alias Bobby), secretary of the sub-regional Committee 3, the attack on the ambulances.
A convoy of ambulances was hit by a landmine in Sitio (sub-village) Balutakay, Barangay (village) Managa in Bansalan on Sunday evening. Five civilian volunteers were wounded.
The ambulances were supposed to pick up 11 soldiers that were wounded in a firefight near that area earlier in the day.
The military leadership condemned the incident, saying it was a “desperate attack” of the NPA.
“The AFP condemns this desperate attack by the NPAs who continue to sow violence in rural areas in the country. The NPA’s use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as landmines endangers the lives, as well as sow terror, to civilians in the immediate area of attack,” military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala said.
He said the military vows to pursue the perpetrators.
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