CPP condemns military's use of airstrikes in Eastern Samar clash

The Communist Party of the Philippines on Tuesday condemned the alleged use of aerial bombing that killed at least 18 New People's Army members in Dolores, Eastern Samar.

However, CPP Information Officer Marco Valbuena admitted they were still verifying the reports of the Easter Samar airstrike.

"Aerial bombing and strafing are indiscriminate. Over the past years, there have been several incidents of bombs hitting civilian huts, farms or exploding in the proximity of communities," said Valbuena in a statement.

Valbuena further pointed out that even with advanced drones, the military will not be able to determine unarmed and armed people in the area.

Armed Forces spokesman Colonel Ramon Zagala said there were no casualties among government troops during the clash in Barangay Osmeña on Monday.

The military seized 30 high-powered guns from NPA rebels. They also launched the operation after receiving a tip on a communist rebel hideout where explosives were being manufactured.

Close air support

In a phone interview with GMA News Online, Zagala said they used close air support, which "precisely targets the enemy," against the NPA.

"First, is hindi 'yan airstrike as they (NPA) say, they (NPA) are using propaganda. It is a closed air support so ibig sabihin there is a forward observer that is there looking at the target... it deliberately targets the enemy only," he said, reacting to the CPP statement.

(First, it isn't an airstrike. What they are saying is propaganda. It is close air support. So this means there is a forward  observer there looking at the target.)

Close air support uses either rockets, machine guns, or smart munitions, said Zagala.

The military spokesperson also denied that civilians were affected in the operation, adding that the encounter occurred in an isolated area in the mountains.

"Civilians mismo nagsabi where they are," he said.

(Civilians were the ones who gave us the NPA's location.)

On using aerial bombs, Major General Pio Diñoso III of the Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division claimed that they requested air assets because they thought there were less than 50 NPA gunmen in the village.

"Tingin po namin hindi siya bababa ng singkwenta kaya nagrequest ng reinforcement o air support ang ating mga kasundaluhan," he pointed out in an online forum.

(We thought that there were about 50 gunmen there, so we requested reinforcements or air support.)

Drones are also being used to pinpoint the exact location for an airstrike, thus avoiding the destruction of the environment, he explained.

This operation, Diñoso said, was also a "big blow to insurgency" in the entire Samar Island.

Meanwhile, Diñoso said they are coordinating with local officials to bring the bodies to funeral services as well as help in identifying the fatalities in the military operation. — DVM, GMA News