CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews/14 September) — The 4th Infantry Division scored the communist-led New People’s Army (NPA) for using landmines which it said might also hurt civilians.
The military was reacting to the discovery Thursday of anti-tank landmines in in Bunawan, Agusan del Sur.
Soldiers from Bravo Company of the 75th Infantry Battalion and Charlie Company of the 23rd Infantry Battalion discovered the landmines at Rick Island in barangay Sta. Monica in Bunawan.
The 75th Infantry Battalion, headed by Lt. Col Ruben C. Agarcio, is based in Bislig City, Surigao del Sur.
Earlier, Army troopers reportedly seized 68 pieces of anti-personnel landmine in Tagbina, Surigao del Sur.
4th Infantry Division spokesperson Lt. Col. Triumph Dominic Bagaipo condemned the use of landmines by the NPA, saying it could endanger both soldiers and civilians.
The use of anti-personnel landmines in warfare is banned under the Ottawa Treaty. The Philippines ratified the treaty in 1997.
MindaNews tried to get a comment from the communist rebels on the issue of using landmines but got no reply as of press time.
In several statements sent to MindaNews, the NPA had said they are only using command-detonated mines.
Bagaipo meanwhile said their troops engaged NPA rebels in a running gun battle Thursday in sitio Labas, Barangay Pagsama, in Medina, Misamis Oriental.
He added military patrols in the area intensified after the discovery of an abandoned rebel camp in sitio Kabol-Kabol in barangay Mananum Daan.
The military official said the abandoned camp could accommodate about 40 persons.
There the troops reportedly recovered 25 meters of electric wire believed to be used in making landmines.
The government and the National Democratic Front, the umbrella organizations of groups allied with the Communist Party of the Philippines, signed in 1998 the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL). Said agreement is supposed to govern the conduct of warfare between the two parties.
International Humanitarian Law provides for the protection and humane treatment of civilians as well as combatants who have either surrendered or who are longer capable of fighting.
Both sides, however, have accused each other of violating the agreement which is considered a milestone in the frequently stalled peace process between the two parties. (BenCyrus G. Ellorin/MindaNews)
