COMMUNIST rebels killed three soldiers in an ambush in Bukidnon Wednesday night and abducted two others Thursday in Sultan Kudarat, the Armed Forces said.
Lt. Gen. Rey Leonardo Guerrero, commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command, said all units under his command are now on alert to protect communities from “acts of extortion, burning of equipment, abductions, liquidations and other forms of atrocities.”
The alert was prompted by series of attacks by the communist New People’s Army (NPA) after a spokesman for the rebels announced the end of a unilateral cease-fire starting Feb. 10.
The renewed attacks come on the heels of a third round of talks in Rome between the communist National Democratic Front and the government.
In Bukidnon, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Madrigal, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, said three of his soldiers were waylaid by armed men believed to be NPA rebels in Malaybalay.
Reinforcements found their bodies riddled with bullets from M16s along the national highway.
“The three soldiers in civilian clothes left battalion headquarters in Impasug-on town Wednesday afternoon to buy personal supplies in Malaybalay. They should have been back before dusk but failed to do so,” Madrigal said.
Civilians spotted the bodies along the highway and informed the military, he added.
He declined to identify the fatalities before their families were informed.
Despite the new attacks, Madrigal said the military would abide by the government’s ceasefire until President Rodrigo Duterte orders otherwise.
“We continue to uphold the supremacy of the peace process and we support the government. But at the moment we have already directed our troops to maintain a proactive defense,” he said.
He said the three soldiers were robbed of their money and personal belongings.
In Sultan Kudarat, Capt. Rhyan Batchar, spokesman of the 10th Infantry Division, said two soldiers were abducted Thursday at around 7:30 a.m. by suspected NPA rebels in Columbio town.
He said the soldiers were members of the 39th Infantry Battalion.
“The NPAs are showing complete disregard of their own earlier pronouncement that their unilateral ceasefire is in effect until Feb. 10 by continuously committing atrocities against soldiers and civilians. The 10ID demands the immediate release of our soldiers,” Batchar said.
He said the abduction took place in Purok 7, Barangay Telafas as the soldiers were on their way to their battalion headquarters on board a motorcycle.
In a statement, the NPA took responsibility for the three deaths in Bukidnon, saying the soldiers pulled out their weapons when they were flagged down by the rebels.
“The NPA fighters were forced to fire first to defend themselves resulting in their [soldiers] death. Taken from them were three .45 caliber pistols,” the NPA said.
In a separate interview, Capt. Joe Patrick Martinez, spokesman of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, said the three soldiers were unarmed and wearing civilian clothes when they were “murdered.”
“They were not just gunned down, they were murdered,” said Martinez.
Capt. Norman Tagros, 403rd Infantry Brigade civic military operations officer, said the soldiers were on their way from Malaybalay to Barangay Manalog to secure some documentary requirements for a livelihood project that they were facilitating in the community.
Tagros said the rebels took personal belongings from the soldiers, including more than P12,000 in cash as their subsistence allowance. With PNA