Army overruns NPA camp

CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna , Philippines —  Army troopers seized firearms and improvised explosive devices from an alleged New People’s Army (NPA) camp in Catanauan, Quezon yesterday.

A 20-minute firefight broke out between the troopers and NPA guerrillas before the military overran the camp in Barangay San Vicente Kanluran, according to Maj. Gen. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr., commander of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division.

The soldiers were responding to reports about the presence of armed men in the area when they encountered at least 20 guerrillas at around 2:20 a.m.

Among the items recovered from the camp were rifles, ammunition, IEDs, bomb paraphernalia and revolutionary documents.

Burgos said the rebels were led by Joseph delos Santos, alias Ken-Bingot, head of the NPA’s Platun Japson.

The military said Delos Santos is a former member of the NPA’s Special Partisan Unit or SPARU, which was reportedly responsible for the numerous atrocities committed by the revolutionary movement in Quezon.