Sinabi kahapon ng Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) na bagamat labis na ikinatutuwa ng militar ang paglagda ng gobyerno at ng National Democratic Front (NDF) sa interim joint ceasefire sa Noordwijk, The Netherlands nitong Miyerkules, hanggang walang aktuwal na deklarasyon ng tigil-putukan ay hindi sila magpapatupad ng Suspension Of Military Operations (SOMO) sa ngayon.
“While we give primacy to the peace process, we have to continue with our focused, deliberate, and surgical combat, intelligence and civil-military operations for the meantime,” saad sa pahayag ni AFP Public Affairs Office (PAO) chief Marine Colonel Edgard Arevalo. “We will pursue our mandate as protector of the people and the state by defeating any armed groups of any affiliation to uphold the law, maintain peace in the communities, and protect the lives of our people.”
Partikular na tinanggihan ng militar ang apela ng NDF para sa 10-araw na SOMO sa ilang panig ng Bukidnon, Agusan del Norte, at Surigao del Norte para sa pagpapalaya ng apat na bihag ng New People’s Army (NPA).
Sa isang panayam, iginiit ni rmy 4th Infantry Division chief Major General Benjamin Madrigal na ang deklarasyon ng SOMO ay nakadepende kay Pangulong Duterte.
“In the absence of such declaration, we continue in performing our mandate of protecting communities against terroristic attacks by the NPAs such as burning of equipment and extortion activities,” ani Madrigal.
“As it happened in Davao, they were able to release their hostages there without any SOMO/SOPO. They can simply leave them to local officials without any funfare,” dagdag ni Madrigal, tinukoy ang pagpapalaya sa paramilitary members na sina Rene Doller at Mark Nocus sa Mati City, Davao Oriental nitong Marso 25.
Bihag pa rin ng NPA sina PFC Edwin Salan, Sgt. Solaiman Calucop, PFC Samuel Garay, at PO2 Jerome Natividad.
(Francis T. Wakefield)
