Killed 16 Policemen and Informants, Philippine Rebels Report

Communist rebels claimed responsibility Saturday for the recent slayings of 16 policemen and military informants in the capital and threatened more assassinations of American and Filipino officials.

The claim marked the first time that rebels of the New People’s Army have taken responsibility for the series of slayings, which military authorities had warned marked the start of a new urban guerrilla war in Manila after 18 years of rural-based insurgency.

A rebel spokesman said prospective targets among American officials based in Manila have been identified but that no decision has been reached on whether they would be assassinated.

Targeted in the assassination campaign, the rebels said, are “all U.S. military and civilian advisers, officers and men who engage in the planning, design, funding or implementation of counterinsurgency programs and operations.”

Officials of the New People’s Army urban guerrilla unit, the Alex Buscayno Brigade, told Filipino reporters at a clandestine news conference that the assassination victims were found guilty of having “incurred blood debts against the people.”

They said the victims included five police officers, among them the commander in the town of Pateros, an armed forces lieutenant colonel plus 10 military informers and “bad elements.” Two other policemen survived the attacks.

The killings began after peace talks initiated by President Corazon Aquino collapsed and an unprecedented 60-day cease-fire lapsed on Feb. 8.

The rebel officials, Emil Trinidad and Sergio Romero, denied that any members of the New People’s Army command in Manila have been arrested or killed in any police operation since the start of the assassination campaign.

Police have reported killing several suspected urban guerrillas in recent weeks, and the armed forces chief, Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, said Friday that 44 suspected NPA urban gunmen, known as “sparrows,” have been interrogated. He said six were charged with “various offenses.”

A New People’s Army press statement said, “Targets of the NPA within the police organization are highly selective and are identified through careful and meticulous intelligence and investigation work.”

The rebels warned that civilian officials “who force or manipulate” the people into forming anti-Communist vigilante groups also face possible assassination.

Each police and military victim of the NPA “sparrow units” was identified and his alleged crimes listed in the rebel statement.