By RUBI DEL MUNDO
Spokesperson, NDFP Southern Mindanao

More than a month after they were taken under custody, the four PNP/BJMP (Philippine National Police / Bureau of Jail Management & Penology) prisoners of war of the New People’s Army, Jail Inspector Murphy Bomoway Todyog (Badge No. 0-08021), Jail Warden Erico Dacillo Llamasares (Badge No. 0-07022), Special Jail Officer 2 (SJ02) Rogelio Begontes (Badge No. 960187), and Jail Officer 1 (JO1) Rolando Delta Bajoyo, Jr., are doing well as shown in the video clips and photos taken on 23 August and released by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines – Southern Mindanao.

Pointedly criticizing the ongoing military offensives of the Philippine Army as thwarting their freedom, the four also urged the GPH (government of the Republic of the Philippines) to expedite more effort in the negotiations.

The GPH is not interested in the speedy resolution of the cases of the NPA captives. Despite the groundswell of calls for negotiations, the GPH spokesperson is actually the fascist Eastern Mindanao Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) which insists on declaring unrestrained military offensives camouflaged as peace and development outreach program in the region.

It is illusory to equate the POWs’ calls for a suspension of military operation as a script with military spokesperson Leopoldo Galon, Jr. saying that the NPA purportedly wants to stop the operations out of fear of an “organizational collapse”.  Surely, a People’s Army that has more than four decades of experience and accomplishments in the revolutionary war cannot be dismembered with fascist dogs wearing innocuous collars.

The NPA’s humane and lenient treatment of the four POWs in compliance with Protocol 1 of the Geneva Conventions indicates the high level of understanding by the People’s Army as regards the application of international humanitarian law in the ongoing civil war. In contrast, the AFP distorts facts to suit its counter-revolutionary thrust, justifies the Oplan Bayanihan military operations as rescue missions, and makes it an occasion to control peasant villages and preclude people’s resistance.

Even as the NDFP is open and ready to tackle the case of the NPA POWs within the framework of the peace talks, the GPH prolongs the incarceration of political detainees and apprehended JASIG-protected NDFP consultants, maliciously demonizing them as criminals, and mercilessly protracting the agony of their families and loved ones who are suffering from an unjust reactionary GPH judicial system.

{besps}pnp-bjmp{/besps}
{besps_c}0|Jail Inspector Murphy Todyog.jpg|Jail Inspector Murphy Todyong|Jail Inspector Murphy Todyong{/besps_c}
{besps_c}1|Jail Officer 1 Rolando Bajoyo, Jr.jpg|Jail Officer 1 Rolando Bajoyo, Jr|Jail Officer 1 Rolando Bajoyo, Jr{/besps_c}
{besps_c}2|Jail Warden Ericho Llamasares.jpg|Jail Warden Ericho Llamasares|Jail Warden Ericho Llamasares{/besps_c}
{besps_c}3|SJ02 Rogelio Begontes.jpg|Special Jail Officer 2 Rogelio Begontes|Special Jail Officer 2 Rogelio Begontes{/besps_c}

{wmv}1-Jail Inspector Murphy Todyog{/wmv}

{wmv}2-Jail Warden Erico Llamasares{/wmv}

{wmv}3-SJO2 Rogelio Begontes{/wmv}

{wmv}4-Jail Officer 1 Rolando Bajoyo Jr{/wmv}