PAGADIAN CITY–Government troops safely recovered three farmers, including a couple, who were seized by New People’s Army (NPA) rebels on Monday in the nearby Misamis Occidental province, military officials said Wednesday.
Capt. Benjie Jimenez, information officer of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, said the three farmers were recovered Tuesday in Barangay Roxas, Aloran, Misamis Occidental.
The couple was identified as Renie Ando, and his wife, Aireen. The identity of the third farmer was not immediately available.
Capt. Jimenez said NPA rebels used the victims as human shields while retreating after they figured in a clash on Monday afternoon with government troops in Brgy. Sinampongan, an adjacent village of Roxas.
Jimenez said the clash ensued when the troops encountered a group of 20 NPA rebels around 3 p.m. Monday in Sinampongan. The clash lasted in the evening and spread to nearby villages.
The abduction of the three farmers were reported by Aloran Mayor Junie Roa and Roxas Village Chief Marieta Dologaog, prompting the military to pursue the fleeing NPA rebels.
Jimenez said troops from the Army’s 10th Infantry Battalion safely recovered the three farmers after the NPA rebels abandoned them as they fled to the hinterlands of Aloran town.
Maj. Gen. Roseller Murillo, Army’s 1st Infantry Division commander, said abducting innocent civilians as human shields is a violation of the International Humanitarian Law. (PNA)
