The Philippine military Friday denied that its soldiers had tortured and raped a captured leftwing woman leader.

Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Cayton, commander of the 202nd Brigade, dismissed allegations that the military tortured and sexually abused Angelina Ipong even as he maintained that she is a ranking leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) in the southern military region.

"She was not tortured, there was no rape," said Cayton, who challenged critics to visit and interview Ipong to shed light on the matter.

He said people spreading the torture and rape of Ipong are "exactly and definitely" making propaganda.

Cayton said critics are trying to get back at the military because they know that Ipong -- captured on March 8 in Barangay Lumbayao, Aluran town in Misamis Occidental, Mindanao, is a big loss to the CPP.

Angelina Ipong is the first deputy secretary of the Western Mindanao Regional CPP Committee, said Cayton, adding she is currently detained at the provincial jail of Zamboanga del Sur.

Source: Xinhua