One of the two wounded combatants transported by Red Cross ambulances was a commander of the New People’s Army operating in Caraga, the police said.
Maj. Eudisan Gultiano, Police Regional Office XI spokesperson, said that Noel Dadang a resident of Barangay Unaban, Tago, Surigao del Sur was Joel Montero dela Hilba alias Kid, a top leader of the NPA in Region XIII.
The other wounded was identified as Jea Angeles Perez, a resident of Carmen, Surigao del Sur.
Alias Kid has a standing warrant of arrest for frustrated murder (Criminal Case 19 3583) issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 28 in Lianga, Surigao del Sur.
Initial investigation disclosed that the two were fetched by the Red Cross team in Barangay Janipaan, San Agustin, Surigao del Sur to transport them to the hospital to treat their wounds. They were flagged by the Surigao del Sur Provincial Police Office personnel at the quarantine checkpoint in Barangay Payasan, Lianga, Surigao del Sur at 10:55 a.m. on May 29.
They are now confined at the Davao Regional Medical Center and being watched by personnel of Tagum City Police Station.
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross insisted that using its ambulances to transport two alleged communist rebels in Surigao del Sur was strictly humanitarian in nature and was coordinated with the authorities.
In a statement, Boris Michel, head of the ICRC delegation in the Philippines, said the medical transport was humanitarian in nature, “to bring them to a health facility that can provide the appropriate medical care for their situation.”
