Lorenzana defends reward vs NPA

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana slammed yesterday the international group Human Rights Watch over its statement that the 120,000 reward being offered by President Duterte to the lumad indigenous people for every communist rebel killed encourages war crimes.

Lorenzana explained that the neutralization of the New People’s Army has always been part

of the law enforcement operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and other law enforcement units of the government.

“We disagree with the assessment of Human Rights Watch (HRW) that President Rodrigo Duterte’s reward offer of 120,000 for every NPA member killed encourages war crimes,” said Lorenzana.

“Neutralizing rebels and terrorists is a legitimate law enforcement function, and the government is not precluded from offering rewards under Philippine laws,” he added.

The Defense Chief stated that part of the counter-insurgency campaign is to ensure adherence to the principles of human rights and international humanitarian law.

“Our soldiers know only too well that anyone of them who is found guilty of abuse will be sanctioned accordingly,” said Lorenzana.

Lorenzana also lashed out at the continuing bias of the HRW against the military and the police.

He also noted the HRW’s alleged silence every time the NPA is conducting atrocities against the government that sometimes result in the death of soldiers and the police.

“When Jose Maria Sison ordered the Communist party of the Philippines-NPA to kill one soldier per region every day, not a pip was heard from the HRW. When the NPA beheaded a former comrade of theirs who had just returned to the fold of the law, the HRW was silent,” said Lorenanza.

“Why did the HRW not say anything when the NPA killed a father and his son — Lumad leaders who attended a Lumad Summit with the President? Where was the HRW when the NPA was burning left and right the equipment of public companies for not acceding to their extortion demands? It is obvious that the HRW is acting as the spokesperson of the CPP-NPA,” he added.

Lorenzana explained that the killings of the Lumad by the NPA and the order of Sison to the NPA were the reasons why the President announced that he will pay anyone who kills an NPA terrorist 120,000. The President later increased the reward to 125,000.

“In the interest of neutrality, objectivity, and the truth, we strongly urge the HRW to stop its hypocrisy and, instead, do the right thing by acknowledging and investigating these glaring atrocities being committed by the NPA including the murder of innocent civilians, who resist their aggressive exploitation, and the deceptive recruitment of our indigenous population,” said Lorenzana.

“The government will do everything in its power to protect our communities and uphold the rule of law,” the Defense Chief stressed.