NPA rebels release soldier in Compostela

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas yesterday released an Army soldier who they had held in captivity for a month in Compostela Valley.

S/Sgt. Bienvenido Gentugao Arguelles Jr., who belongs to the Army’s 25th Infantry Battalion, was freed four days after his companion, militiaman Job Latiban, was set free in Barangay Ngan, Compostela town.

The insurgents seized Arguelles and Latiban last June 19 while they were manning a checkpoint in Sitio Mabatas, Barangay Upper Ulip in adjoining Monkayo town.

In a statement, Rigoberto Sanchez, spokesman of the NPA’s Merardo Arce Command-Southern Mindanao Regional Operations Command, said they released Arguelles “based on humanitarian considerations.”

“By releasing him and other POWs on this ground, the revolutionary movement is giving chance for human rights and the international humanitarian law to be respected at all times,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez said the kidnapping should serve as a warning to military and police personnel who provide security to those engaged in large-scale mining.