NPA to free 2 captives today

DAVAO CITY – Two soldiers held captive by New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Bicol for the past five months are set to be released any time today, an official said yesterday.

Chief government peace negotiator Silvestre Bello III said he received a call from Luis Jalandoni, chief rebel peace negotiator, at around 3:30 p.m. Monday that Army 1Lt. Ronald Fidelino and Pfc. Rommel Nemeno would be freed today.

Jalandoni arrived last week from the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) foreign base in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

In Legazpi City, Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. said the two soldiers would be turned over to his group in an undisclosed place in Albay.

Andaya, who took part in three weeks of negotiations for the soldiers’ release, said Fidelino’s wife, Leah, will be there to meet her husband.

"She can also bring a piece of their daughter’s birthday cake," he said.

Speaking at a symposium on the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law in Southern Mindanao, Bello said he would personally receive the two captives and present them to President Arroyo in Cebu City.

"I could not give you other details except that the release is confirmed," he said.

Jalandoni will also be present when Fidelino and Nemeno are turned over to government representatives and their families.

Bello immediately called up Leah to inform her about the good news, and The STAR heard him telling her not to worry.

Bello flew back to Manila yesterday morning, and is set to be in Bicol today for the release of the two soldiers.

On the other hand, NPA spokesman Gregorio Rosal said Fidelino and Nemeno are to be turned over to their families and government representatives in eastern Bicol today.

"They will be released tomorrow as scheduled," he said yesterday over dzBB radio.

The military has apparently agreed to stop operations against the NPA after unnamed government officials had intervened, he added.

Rosal said the soldiers would be released as soon as the NPA is able to verify the military’s and police’s "strict compliance" with the order from Malacañang to suspend military operations.

"By releasing the prisoners-of-war, the New People’s Army will demonstrate that it is a principled, humane and disciplined revolutionary army contrary to the ‘terrorist tagging’ by the US and Philippine governments," he said.

Rosal said the NPA has strictly followed international humanitarian standards on the treatment of POWs as stipulated in the Geneva Convention and its protocols.

"It is the complete opposite of the torture and inhumane treatment of political prisoners who are regarded and treated by the government as common criminals and made to suffer unjustified and prolonged incarceration," he said.

Rosal warned government forces against trying to rescue the two soldiers so as not to endanger their lives before they are freed.

In February 2001, police Senior Inspector Abelardo Martin was accidentally killed by Army troops who tried to rescue him as the NPA was about to free him, he added.

Malacañang ordered military operations suspended last Friday, and troops were pulled out from Albay and Camarines Sur on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Jalandoni said President Arroyo must reciprocate the NPA’s gesture by also releasing at least 15 political prisoners.

Last February, government negotiators agreed with rebel representatives to free all political prisoners from jails across the country, he added.

News reporters and representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross have been invited to witness the event.

Designated assembly point is the Cagsawa Ruins Park in Daraga, Albay at 9 a.m. today.

Fidelino and Nemeno were captured after NPA rebels raided an Army outpost in Tinamban, Camarines Sur last March 2.

Three days later, Rosal announced that the NPA was willing to free its captives on "humanitarian grounds."

Earlier, the CPP vowed to release the two within the 20-day suspension of military operations in the provinces of Albay and Camarines Sur.

The two were initially slated to be released before the birthday of Fidelino’s daughter, Alea Nicole last Aug. 16, but the plan was discarded after the Armed Forces refused to suspend military operations.

Peace despite CPP terror tag Bello remains optimistic the "terrorist tag" would not be a roadblock to a peace agreement with communist rebels.

"We believe that the terror tag issue would not be a road block to the peace negotiations with the NDF," he said.

"This is although now they are asking the delisting from the terrorist list of the US as a condition for the peace talks to resume but that is in violation of an earlier Hague agreement that the talks have to be held without any condition."

Bello said the National Democratic Front has particularly asked for four things that could help pave the way for their removal from the terrorist list.

"First, they want an opinion from the Department of Justice stating that the rebel group is not a terrorist group," he said.

"And they also want government to come up with a statement from the DOJ that there is no law defining terrorism."

Bello said it was ironic for the NDF to have declared the postponement of the fourth round of peace talks set for Oslo, Norway on Aug. 23 to give government time to comply with its obligations committed during a previous meeting.

"How can they seek the postponement when it should be government doing that because we would know the timetable and not them," he said.

Meanwhile, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is expected to join the next round of peace talks as an observer to familiarize himself with the actual proceedings. — With reports from Ding Cervantes, Benjie Villa, Artemio Dumlao, AFP