Duterte seeks release of cop, Army officer held by rebels

DAVAO CITY – Mayor Rodrigo Duterte met with a ranking leader of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Southern Mindanao the other day to seek the release of an Army officer and a policeman they are holding captive.

Duterte met with Leonardo Pitao, alias Commander Parago, leader of the NPA’s Pulang Bagani Command, at an undisclosed place in the hinterlands of Davao City, and reiterated his appeal to the rebels to free 1Lt. Vicente Cammayo and PO3 Eduardo Tumol for humanitarian reasons.

Cammayo was abducted during an encounter last Nov. 7 in Barangay Casoon, Monkayo, Compostela Valley. Tumol was seized last October in Baganga, Davao Oriental.

Duterte said he would work hard that Cammayo and Tumol would be released before Christmas.

Last weekend, the rebels released a video footage showing Cammayo, who belongs to the 3rd Special Forces Battalion, giving assurance that he was in good condition and that his NPA captors were treating him well. He was in his military uniform.

However, the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front (CPP-NDF) insisted that the national government should be the one that should formally ask for the release of Cammayo and Tumol.

The CPP-NDF advised the relatives of Cammayo and Tumol to call for a stop to military operations to rescue the two.

But Maj. Gen. Leo Jogy Fojas, commander of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, said these operations would continue and that the government would stick to its no-negotiation policy with the rebels.

Fojas dared the insurgents to release another video clip that would show Cammayo with his clothes off to prove that he is not suffering from any ailment. 

Based on the released footage that lasted for two minutes and 41 seconds, Fojas said Cammayo is hurting and needs proper medical attention. – With James Mananghaya