NDF: Rebels probing kidnapped Surigao Sur mayor

MANILA, Philippines - Communist rebels holding the mayor of Lingig, Surigao del Sur captive are investigating him for his active role in military operations, the spokesman of the National Democratic Front (NDF) said yesterday.

“Mayor (Henry) Dano shall be dealt with in accordance with the laws of the people’s democratic government,” spokesman Fidel Agcaoili said.

Dano was seized by New People’s Army rebels from his residence in Lingig town last Aug. 6, along with two of his military bodyguards.

Agcaoili, meanwhile, said the government is obligated to release 13 political prisoners protected by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) before the second round of formal talks with the NDF next month.

“The government is under obligation to comply with signed agreements, if it expects the NDF to enter into an agreement on social and economic reports,” Agcaoili said.   

Agcaoili said the joint statement signed by the government peace panel and the NDF in January and February 2011 in Oslo, Norway clearly stipulated that the government should release most or all the 17 NDF personnel protected under the JASIG before the second round of formal talks in June 2011.

“It is now August 2011 and there are still 13 JASIG-protected individuals in prison,” he said.

Agcaoili said it was the government which proposed to the Norwegian government in a letter dated last July 15 that it would release most or all of the JASIG-protected individuals before the next round of talks next month.

In Misamis Occidental, nine political detainees have gone into fasting to urge the government to work on their immediate release.

“Many of us have been incarcerated for three to four years already, facing criminalized and fabricated charges of multiple murder with quadruple frustrated murder and damage to government property,” the group dubbed as “Calamba 9,” said in a statement.

“We wonder what is keeping our case from being dismissed despite the weak evidence and incredible witnesses presented by the prosecution,” added the group which began their fasting last Sunday.

The group was tagged as the “Calamba 9” because all of them are facing the same charges before the regional trial court in the town of Calamba in Misamis Occidental.

Comprising the group are Mercy Maghinay, Esmeralda Anghag, Marcelino Marata, Antonio Roda, Saturnino Anding, Arnold Lamban, Declard Cangmaong, Pablito Palubon, and Narciso Ramo. – With Rhodina Villanueva