By Soliman M. Santos, Jr.

Naga City, 10 June 2013

In the wake of the New People’s Army (NPA) use of a landmine in the ambush of police Special Action Force (SAF) elements, resulting in eight of them killed, last 27 May 2013 in Allacapan, Cagayan, presidential deputy spokesperson Atty. Abigail Valte was quoted at a Malacañang press briefing as saying “It’s very clear.  It was a violation or against the law on the use of landmines.”  It is therefore relevant and worthwhile to look into this law.  Yes, Virginia, there is a law on the use of landmines, even as it may seem ironic that law governs (or is supposed to govern) so savage an activity as warfare.

Indeed, it used to be the wisdom of the ages, articulated by Cicero, that Silent leges inter arma (“The laws are silent in the midst of arms”).  But war, as among the worst occasions of inhumanity, has also occasioned  Inter Arma Caritas (“In War, Charity”) and among the best that has been created by humanity in terms of law:  international humanitarian law (IHL), or the law of armed conflict, so as to protect its victims and to limit its methods and means (e.g. its weapons).  Because “Even war has its limits.”  If war cannot be avoided because of, say, the failure of a peace process, then the next best thing is to “humanize” it or mitigate its adverse effects on the civilian population.Read More »The law on the use of landmines and the case of the NPA