June 30, 1985
Mr. & Ms. Special Edition

Commander Rolando Domingo was performing executive functions at the Mindanao Steel Corporation when he was abducted by the New People’s Army which now parades him as their first prisoner-of-war (Special Edition, June 28-July 4).

Prisoner-of-war status implies that the captive, at the time of his capture, was in a position to shoot back (if he wasn’t actually shooting back). It’s no big deal to abduct an executive (even one who’s a navy commander) who anticipates no trouble beyond employees agitating for higher salaries.

I would be more impressed with NPA’s claim if their first POW had been an air-borne officer actually bearing arms against them (such as Col. Laudemar Kahulugan) or even a chair-borne officer scheming against them (such as Col. Irwin Ver).

The attempt to collect a ransom tells us that Mr. Domingo is an extraordinary prisoner-of-war but a run-of-the-mill kidnap victim.

It also tells us what kind of criminals this band of NPA are.

QUIRINO TORRES