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Eastmincom hits NPA for violating Int’l Humanitarian Law

By Che Palicte

June 26, 2020, 4:07 pm

DAVAO CITY – The Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) on Friday slammed the communist New People’s Army (NPA) for violating the International Humanitarian Law (IHL), following the recovery of 23 landmines in Barangay New Calape, Montevista, Davao de Oro early this week.

In a statement, Lt. Gen. Jose Faustino, Jr., commander of Eastmincom, pointed out that the use of landmines is banned under the IHL.

“The use of landmines by the NPA should be condemned. It is purely barbaric, as the damage of such explosives does not discriminate whether the target is a soldier or an innocent child," Faustino said.
"Clearly, this group that disguises themselves as the ‘people’s army’ are nothing but a bunch of terrorists whose main goal is to hold all of us hostage through fear while advancing their self-serving political agenda,” Faustino added.

Lt. Col. Asnawi Muti, the Army's 25th Infantry Battalion (25IB) commander, earlier said the discovery came after a rebel returnee who used to be a courier for the NPA in Agusan del Sur and Davao de Oro disclosed the location of the landmine depot.

Aside from the 23 landmines, the authorities also recovered two Garand rifles and 15 blasting caps.

"This is the right time for all of us to make a stand against the use of these landmines by the NPA under Mr. (Jose Maria) Sison. We could no longer play deaf on this issue. We have to bring this problem internationally, particularly the United Nations, so the whole world would know the true nature of this terrorist group,” Faustino said.

Sison founded the Communist Party of the Philippines.

The NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines. (PNA)

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