By MALU CADELINA MANAR
KIDAPAWAN CITY – The New Peoples’ Army (NPA) in Southern Mindanao region (NPA-SMR) has admitted to keeping as prisoner a police officer who went missing in North Cotabato last December.
In an e-mail sent to media on Jan. 12, NPA-SMR spokesman Rigoberto Sanchez, said Inspector Menardo Nisperos Cui, deputy chief of police of President Roxas, North Cotabato, is being “investigated” for counter-insurgency activities including possible crimes against the rebel movement.
Cui was abducted by armed men inside a KTV Bar on Dec. 28.
Sanchez said it was guerilla members from the Mount Apo Sub-Regional Command NPA Front 53 that nabbed Cui.
Sanchez maintained they are taking good care of Cui in accordance with the NPA’s Rules of Discipline; the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and the International Humanitarian Law (CARHIHL); and international war protocols.
Cui’s wife, Florelie, has died while he was being held by the NPA.
His mother, Felomina, maintained the health condition of her daughter-in-law worsened when she learned of her husband’s abduction.