MANILA, Philippines -- Three soldiers and a militiaman were kidnapped by suspected communist rebels in Compostela Valley yesterday noon, a military official disclosed today.
Capt. Emmauel Garcia, chief of the Division Public Affairs Office of the 10th Infantry Division, identified the victims as Cpl. Marcial Bawagan, Ariel Asumo, Eduardo Alcala and militiaman Victor Pitogo.
Initial report showed that Bawagan, along with three others, was attending the third birthday of his son in Sawangan village, Mawab, Compostela Valley when forcibly taken by gunmen, believed to members of the New People's Army, around noon yesterday.
The four men were then dragged into a waiting black van which sped toward Sangab village. The military said the kidnapping of the soldiers is an effort to cover the rebels' blunder in the Maragusan massacre last Tuesday.
During the carnage, five persons, including a poll watcher, were killed and 12 others were wounded when 48 people, composed of board of election inspectors, poll watchers and soldiers, were ambushed by NPA members in the village of Mahayahay in Maragusan town. - By Dennis Carcamo
