TWO communist guerrillas were killed in an encounter with government forces near civilian houses in Mindoro.

Lt. Col. Rogelio Percol, Army 80th Infantry Battalion commander, said the incident happened in Sitio Lanaban, Barangay Manoot, Rizal, Occidental Mindoro.

“We recovered the bodies of two rebels and two high-powered firearms—M-16 and M-14 rifles. The troops continue pursuit operations because they believed the rebels dragged with them their wounded in their escape. The rebels belonged to the NPA Platoon 1 of the Kilusang Larangang Gerilya 2 of the Islacom Mindoro under Oscar Dionisio alias Ka Jaden. There are no casualties on our side,” Percol said in a telephone interview.

The troops that encountered the rebels were led by 2Lt. Benmark Entoma, a platoon leader in the battalion’s Charlie Company.

Percol said before the firefight he received text messages from concerned civilians in the place about the arrival of 20 rebels who went from house to house asking for food.

He said the firefight lasted for 15 minutes.

“The two rebel fatalities remained unidentified. The troops already coordinated with the barangay officials and the local police for the proper disposition of the fatalities’ remains so that their families can claim and bury them properly,” Percol said.

On Monday government troops killed at least 12 rebels in a clash in Barangay Caganayan, Tineg, Abra.

NPA rebs release hostages

COMMUNIST guerrillas based in the Davao provinces released on Tuesday six noncombatants they held captive for 53 days on suspicion that they were military informants.

The victims who are mattress peddlers from Initao, Misamis Oriental, were reunited with their families after they were formally turned over to Misamis Oriental Vice Gov. Norris Babiera.

The victims who were identified as Segundino Dailo, 48; Ernesto Callo, 34; Nelson Bagares, 46; Ronald Boyles, 29; James Mabaylan, 60; and Julieto Sarsaba, 30, were freed unharmed by the NPA guerrillas after an appeal from the various churches and concerned agencies, spearheaded by Babiera, through a letter of appeal sent to Luis Jalandoni, National Democratic Front chairman, for the release of the victims.

On August 10 the mattress peddlers left their families to sell their wares and headed for Davao City after promising to their families to be back soonest.

They constantly communicated with their families through text messaging but after 10 days they lost contact with their loved-ones prompting their wives and relatives to seek the help of the authorities in locating them.

The victims, who were presented to the media, identified their abductors as belonging to the NPA group under a certain Leoncio Pitao alias Commander Parago, which is based in the mountains of the Davao-Bukidnon provinces.

Landmide hurts 2 soldiers

TWO soldiers were wounded on Wednesday after their team that was on combat operations in Compostela Valley was struck by a landmine explosion.

A report received by the National Police said the two soldiers, along with other troops from the Army’s 60th Infantry Battalion, were operating at Sitio San Miguel, Barangay Kidawa, Laak, when they were hit by a landmine blast at about 4 a.m.

Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz Jr., National Police spokesman, said the wounded soldiers were taken to the nearest hospital.

Meanwhile, the Army said it was surprised by the claim of Human Rights Watch Deputy Director for Asia Elaine Pearson that it was fabricating stories about child warriors and that soldiers are parading the children in the media.

“Upon verification, there is no single documented incident that NPA child soldiers were presented to the media by our unit commanders,” said Army acting spokesman Maj. Harold Cabunoc.

He said the Army has recorded a total of 10 rescued child warriors in the Davao region, three, who are aged 10 to 12, in Surigao del Sur and one in Monkayo, Compostela Valley.

“The child warriors, younger than 15, were captured in armed clashes, a strong evidence that indeed the NPAs employ children in their armed struggle. These children engaged in activities that promote violence such as detonating landmines to kill government troops. These are not fabricated lies and our unit commanders can attest to this,” Cabunoc said.

“We validated our data by consulting the parents of these children, by looking through their records, such as their birth certificates and school records, before we declare them child warriors,” he added.

Section 25 of the Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act provides that a child arrested for reasons related to armed conflict, either as combatant, courier, guide or spy, shall be, within 24 hours, released to the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) or any responsible member of the community as determined by the court.

Cabunoc said the Army has been adhering to the law by turning over the child warriors to the DSWD.

R. Acosta with B. Enerio