ILOILO CITY - The Communist Party of the Philippines and New People's Army are justifying the use of landmines in their attacks against government troops.

In an e-mailed statement, CPP-NPA spokesperson Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal refuted the allegations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines that the rebels' use of the landmines violated the ban on the use of such weapons by the Geneva Convention on war.

In a statement issued by the CPP's Information Bureau yesterday, Rosal said that obviously, these AFP officials are completely ignorant of international conventions. What is prohibited, he said, is the use of victim-triggered landmines. There are no prohibitions against command-detonated landmines which the NPA uses as a precision and responsible weapon against military targets, he also claimed.

Rosal said it is the height of hypocrisy for the AFP to denounce the use of legitimate command-detonated landmines. He said the AFP seeks only to cover up its criminal use of more powerful and destructive weapons such as aerial and howitzer bombs as well as plane and helicopter strafing.

Nine soldiers were killed and 20 others were wounded when NPA rebels ambushed a convoy of government troops in Sitio Simadbad, Barangay Mabilingan in Calinog town, Iloilo on Saturday.

The rebels detonated two landmines which destroyed one of two military trucks transporting the government troops before open firing at the soldiers.

The ambush, considered the biggest loss suffered by government forces in a year, happened because the soldiers were "a little complacent" Col. Gregorio Fajardo, commander of the Army's Task Force Panay, said.

He also said Army units have been regularly using the route to re-supply and to transfer to other areas September when they intensified operations against the NPA rebels resulting in at least eight encounters.

He said they have gathered intelligence reports of the rebels' plan to use of landmines but cannot predict where and when.

Fajardo said he will ensure that troops abide by his earlier directives on operational procedures in their movement to their areas of operations to prevent similar incidents.

He said the soldiers are in high morale, "although we are saddened. We will continue the fight," he added.

The ambush site in Sitio Simadbad in Barangay Mabilingan has been cleared for passage. The Mitsubishi Elf truck that was destroyed by the explosions has been removed and the two craters left by the blasts filled in.

The landmines are believed to have been buried in the road without triggering devices at least a week before the ambush, said Fajardo.

Among the nine fatalities were three battle-tested soldiers who were set to retire in December next year.

Staff Sergeant Paterno Billorente, 48, of Libacao town in Aklan, looked forward to shedding off his uniform and spending more time with his family after 23 years of fighting fierce gunbattles with Moro separatist rebels and communist insurgents.

He had plans of investing his retirement pay in a business or to buy a passenger jeepney.

Billorente was set to retire from the service on December next year along with Staff Sergeants Alexander Luis and Melquidez Montemayor who were also killed in the ambush.

"He had been in many encounters and ambushes in Mindanao but no one in his unit has been wounded or killed. I never expected him to be killed here," said his widow, Rosemarie, 46, who now has to take care of their daughters aged 26 and 21.

"I do not know what to do now but we should accept it because it's God's will," she said in an interview at the St. Therese Memorial Chapel here where the remains of the fatalities lie.

Despite her acceptance of her husband's fate, she is angry at the rebels who staged the ambush. "My husband is innocent and he did nothing wrong," she said.

She said her husband wanted to be a soldier even if she had asked him to find a less dangerous job.

The couple last saw each other on Friday, a day before the ambush, when Rosemarie went to the 47th Infantry Battalion (47IB) headquarters in Barangay Ligbot in Calinog to get his Christmas bonus of P7,800.

Billorente had asked her to buy a ring for their younger daughter Dailyn who had passed the nursing board examination in October. "He wanted me to keep it a secret until he comes home."

Rosemarie said she has opted for a P40,000 coffin for her husband rather than the plain white-painted one worth P10,000 paid by the Army. "I will look for the extra P30,000 because he deserves more for laying down his life."

"He was a good provider, husband and father and was sincere in his work. That's why it's so painful," said Marilou Luis, 35, widow of Staff Sergeant Alexander Luis. He left behind five children aged 6 to 18.

Like Billorente, Luis, 42, was focusing on his retirement next year. Marilou said he wanted to make up for the time he was away from them and was excited because their children were doing well in school.

"It hurts me to think that I will be going up the stage alone and pin the medals and ribbons of our children when two of them will graduate from elementary and high school," said Marilou.*NPB

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