Marines capture NPA camp in Palawan

MANILA, Philippines - Marine soldiers have captured a major camp that the New People’s Army (NPA) established in Bataraza in Palawan, the Western Command (Wescom) said yesterday.

The camp, located in Sitio Kambingan, Barangay Mahilud, was discovered hours after members of the Marine Battalion Landing Team-4 (MBLT-4) and a band of NPA guerrillas exchanged fire on Friday morning, according to Wescom spokesperson Capt. Cherryl Tindog.

The firefight was triggered by a roadside explosion perpetrated by the rebels against the Marines in Bataraza and the killing of two soldiers in Roxas town.

 The communist movement has been trying to establish presence in Palawan and was recently able to put up a guerrilla front in the southern part of the island-province.

 The camp is located a kilometer away from where the Marines clashed with the insurgents. It has 21 huts, a tower guard, an advance post, a conference hall and several bunkers.

 “These tell us that the camp is a major base of the NPA and its capture by the government deprived the insurgents of a sanctuary,” Tindog said.

 She said with the cancellation of the peace talks, the rebels are expected to launch more atrocities not only in Palawan, but in other areas of the country.

 Tindog urged the public not to believe the lies of the NPA in defending its atrocities.

The capture of the rebel camp in Palawan occurred almost simultaneously with an ambush in Guihulngan, Negros Oriental, which resulted in the death of the city police chief and five of his men.

Malacañang yesterday condemned the ambush as President Duterte vowed to give justice to Guihulngan City police chief Superintendent Arnel Arpon and his men - Senior Police Officer 2 Nicasio Tabilon, SPO1 Jesael Ancheta, Police Officer 3 Teovic Agusto and PO2s Alfredo Dunque and Alvin Bolandres.

Three police officers - SPO4 Jerome Delara, SPO2 Jury Maribao and PO3 Jordan Balderas - were wounded in the attack. They will receive assistance from the government, according to presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella.

“We will not rest until justice is served against the perpetrators,” Abella said.

Arpon and his men were responding to a call for police assistance when they were ambushed by a band of rebels in Sitio Masid-e.

The officers were on their way to rescue City Councilor Eddie dela Rita, who was reportedly being attacked by another group of armed men in the same barangay.

 Dela Rita suffered a head injury while his driver, Michael Jambalus, was killed.

5 rebels hurt in Abra clash

As this developed, five Army troopers were wounded in a fresh encounter with suspected NPA rebels in Salcedo, Ilocos Sur yesterday.

Members of the 81st Infantry Battalion were patrolling Barangay Sorioan when they encountered the rebels at around 9 a.m., according to a report received by Ilocos Sur police director Senior Superintendent Jovencio Badua Jr.

Wounded were team leader 2/Lt. Jade Gavino, Cpl. Robertson Caalim, and Pfcs. Jayson Aboc, Jefree Alferez and John Joshua Toledo.

The firefight erupted a day after Duterte cancelled peace negotiations with the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front (CPP-NDF).

Expect more attacks

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is expecting the NPA to launch more attacks across the country, noting the insurgents would take advantage of the deployment of a majority of soldiers in Marawi City to fight the terrorists.

 AFP chief Gen. Eduardo Año said that although a majority of soldiers in the Visayas and Luzon are in Marawi, there is still a sufficient force left to fight the insurgents with the help of the Philippine National Police.

“As soon as the Marawi conflict ends, soldiers who are expert in reconstruction and rehabilitation will replace soldier-combatants, who will be redeployed back to their previous anti-insurgency duties,” AFP public affairs office chief Col. Edgard Arevalo said.

‘Terrorize Negros’

The NPA is bent on terrorizing the Negros Island Region, according to Maj. Gen. Jon Aying, commander of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division.

“The attempt on Dela Rita and the killing of the six police officers and a civilian showed the NPA’s intent to prove that peace and development is far from realization,” Aying said.

Col. Eliezer Losañes, chief of the Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade (IB), said they would continue the pursuit operation against the rebels who killed the police officers.

Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo condemned the ambush in Guihulngan, although he said it was an isolated case and the province is generally peaceful.

Presidential assistant for the Visayas Michael Diño called for a deeper investigation into the motive of the attack on Dela Rita.

Prior to the Guihulngan ambush, the NPA in central and northern Negros has claimed responsibility for a number of atrocities in Negros, such as the attack on a sugar tycoon and his driver in Calatrava, the killing of a former Army soldier in Canlaon City and a leader of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army in Don Salvador Benedicto.

Losañes said Dela Rita was among the targets for liquidation by the NPA as his name was found in documents recovered following an encounter in Negros Oriental last month.

The documents also showed that the Guihulngan police station, where Arpon was police chief, as well as that of the cities of Himamaylan and Kabankalan in Negros Occidental, were targets of the NPA attacks.

Aying hinted that some politicians are helping the rebel group to get even with their political enemies.

The 303rd IB and the Regional Public Safety Battalion 18 have deployed troops to central Negros to help in the pursuit operations against the rebels.

8 surrender in Abra

Eight alleged members of the NPA-Abra Sangay Militia ng Bayan surrendered to authorities in Tubo, Abra on Friday.

The surrender was facilitated by villagers of Malibcong town, according to Cordillera police director Chief Superintendent Elmo Sarona.

On July 11, a ranking member of the group identified as Rafael Bautista, alias Ka Cheche, also yielded to authorities.

The government will provide financial help and livelihood to the rebels under the comprehensive local integration program.

‘Show good faith’

Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo yesterday urged leaders of the communist movement to “show good faith and prove that they are really in control of their troops on the ground if they want to sincerely talk peace with the government.”

Castelo made the appeal after Duterte scrapped the peace talks with CPP-NDF following a series of attacks and ambush by the NPA.

It is the NDF, whose leadership is based in the Netherlands, that is representing the communist movement in the peace negotiations. The President released some of the detained NDF officers for the talks.

“The leadership of the rebel groups must do more than pay lip service to the peace process. Two things are important if the peace process is to proceed: first, sincerity on the part of the rebel leaders and, second, control of their cadres,” Castelo said.

He said the President “has shown all good faith and sincerity in reaching out to the remaining small band of communist-inspired rebels in the country - even giving them space in the government.”?

“Problem is, while they have been asking for ceasefire and a return to the negotiating table, their armed groups have continued to ambush government troops, attack police stations, even terrorize the civilian population,” he said.

This could be an indication that the CPP-NDF-NPA leadership based in Europe has no control over the communist rebels in the country, he added. - With Christina Mendez, Gilbert Bayoran, Raymund Catindig, Jess Diaz