The New People's Army's attack on the mother of Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, Gingoog City Mayor Ruthie Guingona, in the Misamis Oriental city Saturday night was a violation of human rights as well as the election code, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said Monday. In a statement sent via e-mail, the AFP said the NPA violated several laws, including:
- Chapter 3 of Republic Act 9851 or the Act defining and penalizing crimes against International Humanitarian Law (IHL), Genocide and Crimes Againts Humanity;
- R.A. 9262 (Violence Against Women and their Children);
- IHL’s Principle of Distinction (victims are Non-Combatants);
- Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Right to Life, Liberty, and Security of a Person);
- Part 4 of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL);
- Presidential Decree 1866 as amended by R.A. 8294 (Illegal Possession of Firearms)
- Murder and Frustrated Murder in many counts;
- Omnibus Election Code; and
- the Commission on Elections' Resolutions for the 2013 elections.
Guingona was on her way to the city proper from a barangay fiesta when her four-vehicle convoy was attacked by the rebels at Capitulangan village around 10:45 p.m. Saturday. Bongosia said the rebels fired at the mayor’s vehicle, killing driver Tomas Velasco and his brother, Nestor, who was an alternate driver. One of the police escorts, PO3 Rolando Benemirito was injured. According to the AFP, the mayor, who was flown to Cagayan De Oro City via UH-1H Huey helicopter, is now in stable condition.
NPA admits to ambush The NPA later confirmed its fighters were involved in the incident, but regretted that Mayor Guingona was wounded. A report on Business Week Mindanao quoted National Democratic Front (NDF) Mindanao spokesman Jorge Madlos a.k.a. Ka Oris as saying
members of the NPA’s Guerrilla Front 4B of North Central Mindanao Regional Command engaged in the firefight. The report quoted Madlos as saying the NPA put up a checkpoint in Alegatan, 15 km southwest of Gingoog City, after getting reports politicians with armed escorts were campaigning in the area. Madlos was quoted in the report as saying Guingona’s armed escorts fired first, prompting the NPA to fire back. But provincial police director Senior Superintendent Nilo Cabog claimed the NPA staged an ambush and not a checkpoint.
Other attacks In the statement, AFP's Human Rights Office chief Brig. Gen. Domingo Tutaan Jr. recalled the NPA's
recent ambush in Negros that killed nine people, and its
attacks on the Dole and Del Monte plantations in Bukidnon, which killed one person. According to the AFP, the rebels killed a total of 53 civilians last year. "They should realize that their armed struggle is futile, against the rule of law, and does not serve the interest of the people," Tutaan said. "Their actions vehemently disrespect and violate the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law in which they are signatories and the Republic Act No. 9851," he added. The CAHR-IHL is an agreement signed in 1998 by the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), the political arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines. The NPA is the armed wing of the CPP. Killing or injuring civilians is among the prohibited acts under the agreement. "The military would like to assure our citizens that the troops in the area will strictly follow the rules of engagement and will respect and promote human rights in pursuit of the perpetrators of this attack," it said.
— BM, GMA News 
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