DAVAO CITY – The military on Monday confirmed the identity of the second New People’s Army (NPA) rebel killed in Saturday’s clash in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.
In a report, Lt. Col. Rhojun Rosales, 39th Infantry Battalion commander, identified the slain rebel as Rondi Ondo, 15, a resident of Makilala, North Cotabato.
Maj. Ezra Balagtey, the spokesperson of the Eastern Mindanao Command based here, said this confirms the military’s claim that the communist rebels have been using children as combatants.
“He was identified by his mother Marissa A. Ondo at a Funeral Parlor in Sta. Cruz, Davao Del Sur during a public identification,” Balagtey said.
Ondo’s cadaver was recovered during a mopping-up operation following Saturday’s clash in Barangay Astorga, which also killed 62-year-old NPA leader Julito Pueblas. A third rebel, identified as Jessa Lumana, was captured.
“It’s so sad to note that despite the worldwide call to spare children from armed struggle, the NPA terrorists continued to arm them and use them,” Lt. Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr., the Eastmincom commander, said in a statement.
“We condemn this practice in [the] strongest term and challenge the NPA terrorists to spare them. Let children be children, and allow them to play, learn, enjoy and experience the beauty of being a child and spare them from indoctrinating hatred and violence,” he added.
The families of Ordo and Pueblas had claimed their remains while Lumana remained in detention at the Sta. Cruz police office. /ee