NPA frees 4 jail officials in North Cotabato

MAGPET, North Cotabato—Insp. Murphy Todyog’s blood pressure on Saturday rose as his release, and that of his colleagues, from the hands of New People’s Army (NPA) rebels here, was nearing, a government doctor monitoring the captives’ conditions said.

“Mr. Todyog showed signs of rising blood pressure, it might be due to his excitement to be reunited with his family,” Dr. Mercy Hiso of the provincial health office said as he examined the jail officer.

Hiso said the other released jail officers, Ozamiz City Jail Warden Erico Llamares, SJ02 Rogelio Begontes and SJ01 Rolando Bajoyo Jr., were in good health.

Rubi del Mundo, spokesperson of the National Democratic Front in Southern Mindanao, said the findings of the government physician confirmed that the NPA “treated them humanely and leniently.”

“Their health and welfare were ensured and their democratic rights were respected,” Del Mundo said.

The four Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) personnel were escorting convicted prisoners, including NPA leader Dennis Rodenas, to the Davao Penal Farm in Davao del Norte on July 21 when seized at a road block that the rebels had put up in Quezon, Bukidnon.

The rebels sprang Rodenas out but left the other convicts behind.

After nearly two months in captivity, NPA rebels from the Herminio Alfonso Command escorted the four BJMP personnel toward here around 12:45 p.m. yesterday.

But before handing them to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), peace advocates and the provincial government, the rebels staged a program, in which, they presented a dance number that interpreted their armed struggle.

At 2 p.m., the rebels formally handed them to ICRC representatives.

The rebels said the four BJMP personnel should have been released on Friday but the presence of soldiers near the release site made them wary.

This was denied by Col. Jovencio Gonzales, commander of the 57th Infantry Battalion, who said that soldiers had long backed off from the release area.

The four BJMP personnel were immediately brought to the Bishop’s Palace in Kidapawan City and reunited with their family, who had been waiting there with North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Mendoza.

Meanwhile, the NPA said the release date of Lingig, Surigao del Sur, Mayor Henry Dano and his two escorts was still being decided. Dano was seized from his home in August.

In Manila, Malacañang won’t give in to calls for a suspension of military and police operations (Somo, Sopo) in the areas needed for the release of Dano even if his wife had pressed for a ceasefire to facilitate the release of her husband.

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the situation on the ground required that the call for a ceasefire with the NPA be carefully studied.

The call for a Somo and Sopo in the areas comes in the wake of a raid on three mining companies in Surigao del Norte, attacks that are said to have caused P3 billion worth of damage.

“We will have to ask people on the ground and also the AFP and the PNP on that suggestion. Right now, again that is being studied. Of course, we would welcome a ceasefire but the problem is, with what they are doing now, we really need to study,” Lacierda said.

The Communist Party of the Philippines has ordered the NPA to release Dano on the condition that a Somo and a Sopo is declared in some areas in Mindanao for “the safe and orderly release.”

President Aquino, in a recent interview with reporters, said the area where the ceasefire is being asked was “too wide.” With a report from Norman Bordadora