NPA frees 3 of 6 gov’t surveyors

New People’s Army. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

TAGUM CITY, Philippines—Suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels on Sunday freed three of six forestry surveyors of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) whom they abducted in Maco, Compostela Valley, officials said here on Saturday.

“Three of the men were allowed to leave but village officials were still negotiating the release of the rest,” said Vice Mayor Carlos Arthur Voltaire Rimando of Maco, quoting reports from the field.

Rimando chairs the town’s crisis management council and is on top of efforts to rescue the DENR contractors who were abducted on Friday.

He did not name the three freed victims, saying the report he received was still sketchy.

“The (remaining) victims and their captors remained in New Leyte. We still don’t know the motive for the abduction,” Rimando said.

Pressed on the possible identities of the abductors, Rimando said they were “armed men in the hinterlands.”

Earlier, Capt. Ernest Carolina of the Philippine Army’s 10th Infantry Division identified those abducted as Kendrick Wong, Nico Lasaca, Chris Favila, Matthew Cua, Jonas Loredo and Tim Sabino, all sub-contractors of DENR Manila.

“They were brought to an unknown location,” Carolina said.

Military sources said the suspects could be NPA rebels as the hinterlands of Maco are known to be a lair of the communist rebels.

The NPA has not claimed responsibility for the abductions.

Armed security personnel of illegal loggers and miners are also known to operate in the area.

The victims were contractual surveyor-inspectors sent by DENR Manila to check on the National Greening Program (NGP) in the upland barangay (village) of New Leyte in Maco.

Gov. Arturo Uy said this latest incident happened despite his order to the police and the military “to be more visible in those areas and improve their intelligence.”

“This has become alarming. This group is abducting people without valid reasons,” said Rimando. “It could create a negative impression (on the province),”he added.

On May 3, alleged communist rebels also seized 39 civilians in neighboring Mabini town, also in Compostela Valley.

They were freed in batches upon the intercession of local officials.

Capt. Alberto Caber, spokesperson of the military’s Eastern Mindanao Command, said all the victims were small-scale miners.

The NPA has been abducting suspected loggers and miners in Compostela Valley, aside from attacking facilities of mining companies, authorities said.–With Karlos Manlupig