No word yet on NPA hostages

It has been more than two weeks but the New People’s Army (NPA) has not released any information on three Rizal policemen they took as hostages in an ambush, prompting the military to call on the rebels to give assurance to the lawmen’s families that they are safe.

Maj. Gen. Roland Detabali, chief of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, said the NPA has not released any information, including a video footage, that could assure the families of Inspector Rex Cuntapay and PO1s Alberto Umali and Marvin Agasen that they are safe and are being treated well.

Detabali made the call amid reports that one of the three policemen was wounded in a landmine blast before they were snatched in Rodriguez town last Jan. 3.

Another policeman, PO1 Rickson Aquino, of the 418th Provincial Mobile Group, was killed in the ambush.

“If they are holding a wounded officer, then they should release him so we could provide him proper medical treatment, like what we do to their wounded comrades,” he said.

In several instances, the NPA released video footages of its hostages, as in the case of Army Lt. Vicente Cammayo, who was eventually freed, to allay fears that the captives were not treated humanely.

“They should also let the families talk to the police officers in their custody. All they are getting are text messages; of course, the (policemen’s) families would want to hear their voices so that they could at least be assured that (they) are being treated well,” Detabali said.

The wives of the NPA hostages have sought the help of Rizal Gov. Jun Ynares Jr. to secure the safe release of their husbands.