Army recovers landmine in Compostela Valley

DAVAO City — Residents tipped off the military on two locations of landmines in Maco, Compostela Valley that averted their explosion.

Government troops first located a seven-kilo landmine and 150 meter trip wire laid along the barangay road at Junction, Sitio Banban, Special Barangay of Manasa, Barangay Anitapan, Mabini, Compostela Valley, according to a report by Lieutenant Colonel Esteveyn Ducusin, battalion commander of 71st Infantry Battalion  to Lt. General Felimon Santos Jr., commander of Eastern Mindanao Command.

The second landmine of three 10 kilograms and one 15 kilograms was discovered 
interconnectedly laid along the barangay road in Barangay Magangit, Maco, Compostela Valley.

Communist rebels use landmines as alternative weapons against government troops in the rural areas, the military claims.

The use of land mines is regulated by both customary international humanitarian law and by the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. Humanitarian law seeks to reduce the suffering caused by armed conflict to the minimum necessary for the achievement of legitimate military objectives, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

For the first quarter, a total of 218 firearms and 69 landmines were seized and surrendered to the Eastern Mindanao Command.

"We appreciate the continuous support of the communities. Providing information on the plans and whereabouts of the CNTGs (Communist-News People's Army Terrorist Group) is another form of expression of the communities in denouncing the presence of CNTGs and their realization on the destructive and anti-people ideology being espoused by the CNTG," Santos said.—LDF, GMA News