5 soldiers slain in Cordillera attacks
CAMP MELCHOR DELA CRUZ, Gamu, Isabela – Amid renewed calls by President Arroyo to end the decades-old insurgency problem, the New People’s Army (NPA) has intensified its attacks, killing five Army soldiers in separate attacks in the Cordilleras.
Maj. Gen. Melchor Dilodilo, chief of the Army’s 5th Infantry Division based here, said the rebel attacks were just meant to show that the NPA is still a force to reckon with.
“In fact, our intelligence sources have gathered that the NPA general command has ordered its field forces to step up their attacks on government and private installations to make the impression that they are still a force to reckon with. But here in the north, their strength is on the downtrend,” he said.
Last Friday, two soldiers on community outreach missions were killed and two of their colleagues were wounded in an NPA attack in Malibcong, Abra.
This came two days after three other soldiers were slain and another one wounded in a remote Kalinga village.
On Thursday, Mrs. Arroyo reiterated her call for the Armed Forces to crush the communist insurgency on or before 2010.
“They (communist) are responsible for a wide range of human rights abuses… We have to put a stop to their ideological nonsense once and for all… they must be stopped,” she told participants in
Authorities have noted increased rebel activities in the
Insurgents also attacked five Globe Telecom cell sites in the Bicol region over the weekend.
Meanwhile, government troops recovered more explosive materials as they pursued guerrillas following a clash in Mauban, Quezon three days ago.
Capt. Peter Garceniego, spokesman of the Army’s 202nd Infantry Brigade, said in a report that four more claymore anti-personnel mines, bomb-making components and several live ammunition were found in the clash site in Barangay Cagsiay 2. – With James Mananghaya and Celso Amo
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