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DILG to NPA: Turn over Masbate land mine bombers to authorities


DILG to NPA: Turn over Masbate land mine bombers to authorities

The Department of the Interior and Local Government on Wednesday urged the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army to surrender the perpetrators of the Masbate City land mine attack that killed two people.

In a statement, DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said that the CPP-NPA's taking responsibility for the incident, and an apology are not enough to let their offenses pass.

“It now becomes their duty to turn over the terrorists responsible for the deaths so that justice maybe served to their families and loved ones,” Año said.

“The ends of justice require that those responsible must be held accountable for their crimes against the people under the laws of the Republic of the Philippines,” he added.

Año said the perpetrators can be turned over to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).

Aside from the CHR, Año also said the CPP-NPA can turn over the assailants to the Makabayan Bloc, which he claimed as allies of the communist rebels.

Likewise, he challenged the House bloc to demand the turnover of the perpetrators.

Año said the CHR and the DILG will guarantee the safety of the suspects while undergoing trial.

The CHR on Tuesday said it had begun investigating the land mine blast.

The attack killed college football player Kieth Absalon, 21, and his relative Nolven.

Nolven’s 16-year-old son, who was with the victims, sustained injuries from the land mine explosion.

On Tuesday, the CPP-NPA expressed remorse over the incident, with CPP spokesman Marco Valbuena attributing it to "errors of an NPA unit."

Valbuena said: "The entire CPP and NPA express deep remorse and take full responsibility for the untimely deaths of cousins Kieth and Nolven Absalon."

For Año, the supposed internal probe to be conducted by the CPP-NPA into the incident cannot be trusted as the communist rebels, he said, do not adhere to established rules of procedure and have their own brand of revolutionary justice.

According to DILG, Año was referring to mass graves of former communist cadres who were allegedly summarily executed by the CPP-NPA in internal purges in the '80s and the '90s, as well the alleged murders of former NPA cadres who were summarily executed for quitting the group.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are working on filing cases against the leadership of the NPA in connection with the land mine blast in Masbate City.

Meanwhile the Human Rights Watch on Wednesday said the communist rebels' bomb attack in Masbate using an improvised explosive device planted on the ground constitutes a war crime.

In a statement, HRW senior Philippine researcher Carlos Conde said the use of anti-personnel land mines are prohibited in the Philippines under the Mine Ban Treaty.

The Makabayan Bloc on the other hand on Wednesday urged the families of Kieth and Nolven Absalon to file a complaint before the Joint Monitoring Committee over their untimely deaths.

The said committee accepts complaints on the non-compliance of the CPP-NPA, or the government and its security forces on the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), the bloc said. —LBG/KG, GMA News

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