Talks on with Reds on 2 captive soldiers

TARLAC CITY — The government peace panel has started negotiations for the safe release of two soldiers being held captive by communist guerrillas in Camarines Sur for four and a half months now.

Tarlac Gov. Jose Yap, senior adviser to the government panel, said they are now discussing with Manila-based rebel leader Fidel Agcaoili the procedure for the turnover of Army 1Lt. Ronaldo Fedelino and Pfc. Ronnel Lemeno.

The two soldiers were snatched by fighters of the New People’s Army (NPA), armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, after an encounter in Barangay Bataan in Tinambac, Camarines Sur last March 1.

CPP spokesman Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal earlier asked Malacañang to negotiate the release of the two soldiers with the National Democratic Front (NDF), the communists’ political arm which has been representing the mainstream Maoist movement in peace talks with the government.

Rosal also demanded that President Arroyo order a suspension of military operations in Camarines Sur to allow NPA guerrillas holding Fedelino and Lemeno to bring them to the place where they would be released.

Rosal sought a third-party observer, specifically the International Committee of the Red Cross, to ascertain if the two soldiers have been treated well while in captivity, and are in good and healthy condition upon their release.

The two soldiers are now being held by an NPA "custodial force" and are being treated as "prisoners of war" (POWs) by the rebel movement.

Rosal has assured the soldiers’ relatives and friends that they are in good condition, and that the guerrillas have been strictly observing the Geneva Convention on the treatment of POWs.

The military has continued to carry out "search-and-rescue" operations in Camarines Sur with the massive deployment there of troops from the Army’s 9th, 42nd and 31st Infantry Battalions and the 9th Scout Ranger Company.

Yap said a deadline has not been set for the government panel to secure the release of Fedelino and Lemeno, but gave assurance that "we are moving to that."

He said Agcaoili is the "right" person to deal with in the two soldiers’ release, being the co-chairman of the Joint Monitoring Committee tasked to oversee the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.

The committee was activated last June to receive and addresses complaints of abuses against state or rebel forces. Lawyer Carlos Medina Jr. co-chairs the panel on the side of the government.

Negotiations for the release of the two soldiers came while preparations are underway for this year’s fourth round of formal peace talks in the last week of August.