MANILA, Phillippines—Following the release of a group of surveyors, the Armed Forces of the Philippines vowed to intensify its crackdown against the communist rebels.
In a statement, the AFP said that it would “intensify its operations” against the NPA in Davao where the communist rebels conduct small-scale mining, extortion and kidnapping.
“These are criminal acts and violation of the human rights that continue to endanger lives of innocent civilians,” Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala, AFP Public Affairs Office chief, said Tuesday.
NPA rebels on Friday abducted five surveyors from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Compostela Valley and accused them of spying.
All five were released on Monday noon with Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte taking the group under his custody.
The NPA is the armed unit of the Communist Party of the Philippines, and has been waging an insurgency since 1969. AFP FILE PHOTO
Zagala said that the AFP was ready to use force to put the rebels to justice.
“The AFP is ready to impose its forces shall it be needed, and exhaust all our efforts to put in the bars of justice the NPA members who are guilty of these crimes,” Zagala said.
He added that the NPA rebels were paranoid when they accused the surveyors, who used a drone, of spying.
“Contrary to what NPA is claiming, the civilians were there to bring services to the people,” Zagala said.
DENR sent Kendrick Wong, Nico Lasaca, Chris Favila, Jons Loredo, and Tim Sabino for the government’s National Greening Program in the area.
They used an unmanned aerial vehicle to survey the area and not for intelligence gathering, Zagala said.
“It was paranoia on the part of the NPA for believing that the civilians were using the UAV for intelligence surveillance even calling them as instruments of mass genocide and civilian destruction.”
RELATED STORIES
Paje thanks Duterte for release of kidnapped surveyors
6 survey inspectors of DENR abducted in Compostela Valley