Freed soldier wants to settle score with Reds

A junior Army officer held hostage for nearly half a year by communist guerrillas in Bicol has asked to be deployed back to the same area to settle score with his captors, a military spokesman said.

1Lt. Ronaldo Fidelino made the formal request to his superiors within hours of his release from New People’s Army (NPA) captivity in Bicol last Wednesday, Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero said.

"Lt. Fidelino volunteered to be sent back to Bicol because he wants to really follow up his convincing campaign," Lucero told reporters.

While the officer would have to pass extensive medical tests before he could be sent back, there were no legal or military reasons stopping him, Lucero said.

"I think there are more benefits than risks because he was able to get into the lairs of the NPAs and they (Fidelino and Pfc. Ronnel Nemeno) have known a number of them, you know, so they can easily pinpoint who are the members of the NPA," Lucero added.

The rebels turned over Fidelino, a married father of one in his early 30s, and Nemeno to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Presentacion, Camarines Sur last Wednesday.

The two were taken captive after a clash with NPA rebels in Tinambac, Camarines Sur last March 1.

Meanwhile, NPA spokesman Gregorio Rosal said they did not compel Fidelino and Nemeno to tell the public that they were humanely treated while in captivity.

"In fact, they were not even compelled to have their haircut," he said, reacting to military officials’ claims that the two were forced to tell a lie.

Rosal said handcuffing the two soldiers was a "legitimate form of restraint" although this was done "sparingly."

The 8,600-strong NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, which has been waging a Maoist rebellion since 1969.

The rebels backed out of peace talks scheduled for Aug. 24 in Norway, accusing the Arroyo administration of not doing enough to convince the United States to delist the NPA and the Communist Party from Washington’s blacklist of "foreign terrorist organizations."— AFP, Benjie Villa, Artemio Dumlao and James Mananghaya