Sunday, August 3, 2008

NPA Rebels Deny Arrest of Comrade

The New People's Army (NPA) in Negros Oriental claims a Boholano Red fighter picked by the military is missing.

In a statement emailed to journalists, the NPA Pulang Mt. Talinis Command identified the missing rebel as Calixto "Ka Manong" Alfante, 46.

The statement was signed by Dom Pantaleon who identified himself as the spokesman of the Pulang Mt. Talinis Command based in Southeastern Negros .

Alfante was allegedly abducted by elements of the 79th Infantry Battalion in Sitio Kabalanusan, Barangay Dobdob , Valencia town, Negros Oriental.

The NPA claimed Alfante was alone and unarmed at the time of his abduction and was merely helping peasants with farming-related problems.       

In spite of efforts by Alfante's family to locate him in various municipal jails, the NPA said the 302nd Infantry Brigage based in Tanjay City has continued to deny custody over the missing rebel.

"We dare the 79th IB's Lt. Col. Erwin Neri to re-read seriously the 1949 Geneva Conventions which forbid any and all forms of ill-treatment of captives consistent with humanitarian considerations," the statement said.

The NPA also demanded that Neri to immediately surface their captured comrade and grant visitation rights to his family.

According to the statement, the 46-year-old Alfante served as councilor of Barangay Libertad Sur, Sagbayan in the late 90s.

The NPA alleged that Alfante's disappearance is a violation of the 1949 Geneva Convention governing combatants and hors d' combat (combatants deemed already protected by international humanitarian law by virtue of arrest or surrender).

It claimed that Alfante's abduction and involuntary disappearance is connected to the aggressive drive of the Arroyo government to plant jathropa and other cash crops in Negros Oriental which the NPA said is to the detriment of food crops farmers in lowland and upland barangays in the province.

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