DAVAO CITY Aug. 7- The Philippine Army has denounced the use of landmines by the New People’s Army following a landmine blast which killed a soldier last August 1 in Paquibato District.
Major Jake Obligado, commander of the 10th Civil Military Operations Battalion , !0th Infantry Division said that the landmine was placed in a road near the school heavily used by civilians particularly students.
The blast has caused fear among the residents; the Department of Education immediately suspended the classes of the school near the incident site. The dead soldier was part of a security patrol to check the presence of an IED near the school when he stepped on the landmine.
Obligado said that landmines are banned under international conventions. He said that its use has been prohibited as stipulated under the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) which was signed by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front which represented the Communist Party of the Philippines and the NPA.
He said landmines or Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) whether victim-activated or remote-detonated has a killing radius of 15 meters and could indiscriminately kill or maim non-combatants.
Obligado cited the ‘Libaylibay massacre’ in Maco Compostela Valley Province which occurred in February 2011 where three civilians were killed when an IED struck a military truck they were riding as an example of the indiscriminate nature of the landmine.
The Army has suffered five deaths brought about by landmines and IEDs in Region XI from November of last year to August this year. In November 2011, three soldiers were killed by landmine in Paquibato district Davao City, last June 15, an Army lieutenant was killed and three other soldiers were wounded when a landmine struck their truck in New Bataan, Compostela Valley Province. (PIA 11/RG Alama)
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