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CPP slams CHR for ‘echoing AFP lies’ on landmines

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) challenged the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to cite International Humanitarian Law (IHL) principles the New People’s Army (NPA) allegedly violated in its ambush of government soldiers in Jipapad, Eastern Samar last July 7.

In a statement Tuesday, CPP public information officer Marco Valbuena demanded that CHR deputy spokesperson Marc Louis Siapno specify which IHL provision the NPA failed to observe in the military action that killed three government troopers and wounded six others.

Valbuena also strongly reacted to Siapno’s allegation that the NPA indiscriminately used improvised explosive devices (IED) during the incident.

“By condemning wholesale the use of landmines, the CHR mouthpiece is not helping educate the public with regard the Ottawa Treaty. He should understand that the treaty specifically bans the use of landmines that are ‘designed to be exploded by the presence, proximity or contact of a person’ and does not prohibit the use of command-detonated landmines,” Valbuena said.

Valbuena added: “Is the CHR spokesperson aware that the armed forces of Canada (where Ottawa is located) itself possesses and uses command-detonated landmines (similar to that of the NPA) which it says are not covered by the landmine treaty?”

In a statement Friday, Siapno alleged the NPA indiscriminately used IEDs, including landmines, that “fail in distinguishing between civilians and combatants and protect especially civilians and communities from the ill effects of armed conflict, which violates the spirit of IHL.”

Siapno also urged the government “to pursue the perpetrators…in keeping with the rule of law,” adding the five-decade CPP-led revolution is “senseless violence.”

‘Misleading’

Valbuena however said he is not surprised with CHR’s bias.

“In the first place, the CHR is an agency of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP). At every opportunity, it denounces the NPA and echoes the lies of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines),” he said.

Valbuena cited the article “CHR, gov’t close ranks vs. NPA” published Monday by the Philippine News Agency he described as a “trash news website.”

The article quoted Philippine Army 8th Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Pio Diñoso saying the government troopers were unarmed when ambushed.

“The spot report of the AFP itself said that the ‘firefight lasted for about 20 minutes,” although the NPA report said the battle lasted only for 5 minutes,” Valbuena countered.

He added the NPA seized a Gloc-made pistol as well as a .45 caliber and a .9mm pistol of unknown makes from the soldiers. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

AFP and PNP lying; Red fighters only use command-detonated explosives—CPDF

By Joseph Gregorio

The Cordillera Peoples Democratic Front (CPDF) accused the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) of lying when they alleged the New People’s Army (NPA) used an unmanned improvised explosive device (IED) in their April 2 clash that killed a policeman and wounded nine others at Cabunagan, Poblacion, Tadian, Mountain Province.

“Accustomed to releasing fake news, it is not farfetched for these spinmasters to concoct a preposterous story to downgrade their defeat. They simply cannot accept that even with their superior manpower and weaponry, they are still defeated by the NPA,” CPDF Spokes person Simon “Ka Filiw” Naogsan said.

Naogsan said the AFP and the PNP vainly conjured a scenario to accuse the NPA of violating the Ottawa Treaty on the employment of unmanned IED that explodes when subjected to pressure or extreme heat.

“The NPA has long adhered to the Ottawa Treaty through banning the use of landmines in its operations and has been employing command-detonated explosives instead,” Naogsan said.

“The AFP and the PNP further show their ignorance as they do not know how to differentiate a command-detonated explosive from an unmanned landmine,” he added.

Government forces, through statements and social media posts, alleged the NPA used unmanned IEDs and landmines in their clash last Tuesday, their third fire fight with the communist guerrillas within a week.

“International humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions have outlawed the use of landmines in warfare because of the risk of civilian casualties or collateral damage,” Police Regional office Cordillera (PROCor) Chief PBGen Israel Ephraim Dickson said.

But Leonardo Pacsi Command-NPA-Mountain Province spokesperson Magno Udyaw said their troops only used a command detonated device, exploded by an operator upon the order of the unit commander when government soldiers have entered the designated killing zone.

Udyaw clarified that there was no forest fire on the blast site at the time of the clash, adding they are not stupid to start a forest fire that can limit their combat manoeuvres. #