Two NPA captives in Compostela Valley break away

By Ronron
October 18, 2007

Two of the three captives of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Compostela Valley province were able to break away and are now in the hands of the military unit in the area, an official there said Thursday.

According to Brig. Gen. Carlos Holganza, commander of the Philippine Army’s 1001st Infantry Brigade that is based in Mawab town of said province, Glorieto Mahumas and Rudy Villaflor were received by his command Thursday morning.

The two, Holganza said, claimed to have escaped from their captors last Sunday in Barangay Banglasan in Montevista, same province. He said the two claimed they were not brought outside of Montevista since they were abducted last October 7 in Barangay Kanidkid, together with Sgt. Raul Reyes.

Reyes is the commander of the 72nd Infantry Battalion detachment in Barangay Kanidkid, while Mahumas and Villaflor are CAFGU members of said detachment.

At the same time, Mahumas is the chairman of Barangay Kanidkid while Villaflor also serves as a barangay kagawad.

Holganza said the two claimed that since their escape, they walked, ran and hitchhiked until they arrived Wednesday night, at around 7 o’clock, at the residence of Compostela Valley 1st District Congressman Manuel Zamora in Monkayo town.

It was Zamora who turned them over to Holganza yesterday morning at the latter’s headquarters.

“The pressure from military operations set the stage for the two’s escape because their captors have formed into splinter groups already,” Holganza said in a phone interview.

“The rebels thought they have the support of the people of Banglasan. They did not realize that the local residents there were cooperating with us,” he added. The military had earlier claimed that they conducted non-stop operations against the perpetrators.

Holganza said the two claimed there were around 50 who held them since October 7 although only at most 30 took them from Mahumas’ residence.

Asked to describe the condition of the two, Holganza said they looked “okay” and claimed they were not hurt or maltreated.

The NPA had owned up the abduction of the three, who, they said, will be made to face preliminary investigations “for the complaints filed against them that may constitute war crimes and violations of International Humanitarian Law and against civilians in Montevista.”

Philippine Army spokesman Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres, Jr. said the admission of the NPA is “clearly an open admission of an extra judicial means of settling things.”

Holganza said that with Mahumas and Villaflor now in their custody, they are “hoping” they could rescue Reyes soon.

The two are undergoing debriefing at the 1001st Brigade headquarters as of press time, Holganza said./DMS