From: news@netnews.upenn.edu (USENET News System)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.filipino
Subject: NPA/CPP Kills Troops During Negotiations
Date: 31 Jul 92 18:05:08 GMT
Followup-To: soc.culture.filipino
Organization: University of Pennsylvania


	CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines (UPI) -- Communist rebels killed seven
soldiers and three civilians who were supposed to accept the surrender
of a guerrilla leader, a senior police official said Friday.
	The killings followed a disagreement on surrender terms.
	Regional police commander Brig. Gen. Honesto Bumanglag said four
other troopers of the Special Action Force, including a major, were
captured during the incident Thursday and were being held hostage by the
rebels.
	One policeman escaped and reported the apparent treachery, said
Bumanglag, citing reports to regional headquarters in Cagayan de Oro,
Misamis Oriental province, 500 miles south of Manila.
	The incident underlines the difficulties faced by President Fidel
Ramos' offer to legalize the country's outlawed Communist Party and
grant amnesty to its 15,000-strong armed wing, the New People's Army.
	Ramos announced the proposal in his state of the nation address
Monday in a bid to end a 23-year Marxist rebellion and two other
insurgencies waged by right-wing soldiers and Muslim separatists in the
south.
	Bumanglag said the troopers had received a message last week through
the three civilians to accept the surrender of the rebel leader,
identified as ``Commander Jabbar,'' and 60 of his armed followers.
	SAF unit commander Major Rodolfo de la Pedra, 11 of his men and the
three civilian negotiators met with the rebels in Eureka near Cagayan de
Oro. During the talks, the guerrillas allegedly insisted on several
conditions before they would give up.
	A heated argument ensued and Jabbar grabbed De la Pedra's gun.
Jabbar's men opened fire, killing seven troopers and the three
negotiators, Bumanglag said. He added the surrender offer could have
been an ``entrapment'' planned by the insurgents.
	De la Pedra, who was wounded, and three of his men were held hostage,
Bumanglag added. Jabbar and three of his followers were reported wounded
when the outnumbered troopers returned fire.
	Security forces, backed by two helicopter gunships, were deployed to
track down the rebels, Bumanglag said. News of the killings came as
congressmen in Manila began gathering signatures in the House of
Representatives for a resolution voicing support for Ramos' amnesty
proposal covering 4,485 former NPA guerrillas, right-wing rebels and
Muslim separatists.
	Former Catholic priest Frank Navarro, a communist guerrilla field
commander, denounced the proposal as ``deceptive'' because it required
the rebels to lay down their arms ``without even scrutinizing the main
cause of the revolution.''
	A right-wing rebel officer, ex-colonel Billy Bibit, also accused the
government of acting in bad faith in its peace effort after the military
allegedly reneged on a promise to halt operations against his group
while informal peace talks were under way.
	Key Ramos supporters said they gathered signatures of about 30 of 200
House members in support of the resolution by Friday afternoon. They
said they hoped to get the majority of lawmakers to sign the resolution
to speed its approval.
	The proposal faces a long debate in both House and Senate committees
before it could become law. But lawmakers said passage by the House of
the non-legally binding resolution would show solid support for Ramos'
peace effort and could add momentum to the process.