Rebels claim to hold soldier in Davao del Norte

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Communist guerrillas claimed Tuesday to have in their custody a soldier they linked to illegal logging and drugs.

Aris Francisco, the New People’s Army spokesperson in the north Davao and south Agusan areas, said Cpl.  Rogelio Rosales of the 60th Infantry Battalion was helping transport illegally cut logs when he was “arrested” by NPA guerrillas in Barangay (village) Florida in Kapalong, Davao del Norte, last Saturday.

“A sachet of shabu drugs was also found in his possession, proof that soldiers who are coddling big loggers in the province were also into the illegal drugs trade,” Francisco said.

He said the soldier was working for some politicians and retired police officers who make up the so-called Big Four syndicate involved in the illegal cutting of trees in the provinces of Compostela Valley and Agusan del Sur.

“To protect the remaining forest cover, campaign for reforestation, stop abusive large-scale logging, and secure the livelihood of the masses through sustainable communal farming, the NPA Subregional Command strongly enforces its total log ban policy,” Francsico said.

The capture of the soldier was announced after the NPA freed 39 miners seized in Compostela Valley over the weekend.

Compostela Valley Gov. Arturo Uy said all the hostages were small-scale gold miners operating between the towns of Maragusan and Mabini.

Uy said the NPA used the civilians as human shields to escape a military operation in the gold-rich mountains near the two towns.

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