CARING FOR WOUNDED REBEL. Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera, commander of the Army's 53rd Infantry Battalion (left), and Rowel Monasque, a New People's Army (NPA) leader (right,) share a light moment during the Army official's visit to the wounded NPA leader at Camp Major Cesar Sang-an Station Hospital in Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur on Friday (Sept. 25, 2020. The 53IB is providing medical care assistance to Monasque, who was wounded in the Sept. 21 clash in Barangay Marangan, Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur. (Photo courtesy of the 53IB)
ZAMBOANGA CITY--The Army's 53rd Infantry Battalion said it is providing medical assistance to a wounded communist New People’s Army (NPA) leader in Zamboanga del Sur.
The beneficiary of the medical aid is Rowel Monasque also known as "Ka Jotham" and "Ka Henry", who was wounded in a clash with the 53IB troops on Sept. 21 in Barangay Marangan, Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur.
Monasque, who was abandoned by his comrades, was apprehended by government troops Tuesday while being admitted at the Zamboanga del Sur Medical Center in Pagadian City.
Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera, 53IB commander, said they immediately brought Monasque to Camp Major Cesar Sang-an Station Hospital for medical treatment in the Army's 1st Infantry Division headquarters in Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur.
Herrera, who visited Monasque in the hospital Friday, said that providing medical care for the wounded was the right thing to do “even if he is an enemy." "We recognize that he cannot fight anymore. Though he is the enemy of the people and the State, he still deserves medical treatment,” he said.
“We tend to them and accord them with the medical care they need because we are professionals and we have to adhere to our laws,” Herrera added.
He cited Rule 110 of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL), saying that there is “no distinction may be made among them founded on any grounds other than medical ones.”
The IHL Rule is based on the common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, he said, which provides that “the wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for”.
“Caring for the wounded enemy is not just for a show. All of their lives they were taught with lies. We want to show them that the government and the soldiers genuinely have a heart for them,” Herrera said. (PNA)
