Suspected members of the New People’s Army abducted two soldiers belonging to the 39th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army yesterday in Columbio, Sultan Kudarat.
Capt. Rhyan Batchar, chief information officer of 10th Infantry Division, said the soldiers were on board a motorcycle on their way to their headquarters when they were flagged down by more or less 10 heavily armed NPAs at around 7:30 a.m. in Purok 7, Barangay Tilapas.
The two soldiers whose named were temporarily withheld were supposed to report to their headquarters to undergo re-enlistment when they were abducted, Batchar added.
However, the Columbio police identified the victims as one Sgt. Solaiman Calocop and Private First Class Samuel Garay.
The 10th ID condemned the abduction of the two soldiers. “The NPAs are showing complete disregard of their own earlier pronouncement that their unilateral ceasefire is in effect until February 10 by continuously committing atrocities against soldiers and civilians,” it said.
The command demanded the immediate release of the two soldiers and urged the leadership of the Communist Party of the Philippines to order the NPAs to immediately stop committing criminal acts victimizing the people that could imperil the peace negotiations.
“This action of the NPA further confirms that it is never a people’s army but a nuisance propaganda army of the local communists,” it added. (Francis T. Wakefield, Yas D. Ocampo, and PNA)