8 Bulacan miners abducted, says group

MALOLOS CITY — At least eight miners in the mountain town of Doña Remedios Trinidad in eastern Bulacan were allegedly abducted Monday, and a human rights group has blamed the military for the incident.

Reports said the miners are working for the Metal Ore Mining Company based in Barangay Camachin.

The Alyansa ng Mamamayan Para sa Pantaong Karapatan (ALMMA), a militant human rights group, alleged that the Army’s 56th and 24th Infantry Battalions which operate in the area had a hand in the abduction.

But Superintendent Jack Jacaban, head of the Provincial Intelligence and Investigation Branch of the Bulacan police, denied this.

Jacaban told The STAR that Col. Noel Clement, commanding officer of the 56th IB based in nearby Barangay Matictic, Norzagaray town, informed him that his men had nothing to do with the reported abduction.

Clement, however, said there was an encounter between the military and the New People’s Army (NPA) in the area early Monday morning and that they seized short and long firearms left by the rebels.

There were no casualties in the clash, he said.

Fr. Rolly de Leon, ALMMA spokesman, said it is likely that the military snatched the eight miners on suspicion that they are insurgents.

De Leon’s group, however, has yet to complete the report of its fact-finding mission to the area yesterday morning.