Aquino Won’t Release Rebel; Army on Alert
The Aquino government today rejected rebel demands for the immediate release of a top communist leader and placed the army on alert to guard against reprisal attacks.
President Corazon Aquino discussed with her advisers the leftists’ demands that Rodolfo Salas be released before peace talks to end the 17-year insurgency continue, presidential spokesman Teodoro Benigno said.
“They considered the demand, shall we say, not accepted, for the simple reason that the capture of Cmdr. Salas was in the normal course of counterinsurgency operations,” Benigno said.
Salas, 38, has been identified by the military as commander of the rebel New People’s Army, which is estimated to have between 16,000 and 22,000 members.
Benigno said official documents indicated Salas also is chairman of the underground Communist Party of the Philippines, which formed the New People’s Army in 1969 to wage a “people’s war” against the government.
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