DU30 must put an end to communist rebels

Frankly speaking, I really didn’t care to watch the last fight between Sen. Manny Pacquiao against American boxer Keith Thurman simply because the latter had no losses and since he was 10 years younger than the Pacman, there was a huge chance for Pacman to get defeated. But lady luck was still with the Pacman when he defeated Keith Thurman in a split decision in Las Vegas.

As Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement after Pacman won his title fight, “We thank Senator Manny for not only bringing honor and glory to our flag, but for once again uniting all Filipinos worldwide with his display of athleticism, power and Filipino pride. Mabuhay ka, Manny! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! (Long live, Manny, long live the Philippines).” Panelo called it a victory for the entire Filipino nation. Sec. Panelo noted that Pacquiao also made the Philippines proud at the start of the year when he successfully defended his World Boxing Association welterweight belt over another American boxer, Adrien Broner.

Of course Netizens in social media congratulated the Pacman, but so many of them proposed that it is high time for the senator-boxer to give up his gloves and be a retired boxing champion so he can ultimately work for the entire nation and retire honorably. Now whether the Pacman would listen to the advice of Netizens, we will find out in the future.

* * *

Supposedly today, we are going to listen to the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte that he would make before the House of Representatives. But there are untoward events that happened late last Thursday when four police officers were killed after they were ambushed by suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Sitio Yamot, Barangay Mabato in Ayungon town, Negros Oriental. Police Regional Office (PRO)-7 director police Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas identified the fatalities as Corporal Relebert Beronio, Patrolman Raffy Callao, Patrolman Ruel Cabellon, and Patrolman Marquino de Leon. The ambushed police belonged to the Regional Mobile Force Battalion-7, assigned to a detachment in Sitio Nabangka, Barangay Mabato in Ayungon town.

Last Saturday, President Rodrigo Duterte together with Sen. Bong Go and Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año, and Education Secretary Leonor Briones visited the wake of four policemen who were allegedly killed and tortured by members of the New People’s Army (NPA). The President gave the Order of Lapu-Lapu Rank of Kalasag medal to PCpl. Relebert Beronio, Pat. Raffy Callao, Pat. Roel Cabellon, and Pat. Marquino de Leon. The President also talked to the bereaved families of the victims and met with PNP officials.

Initial investigation showed that the four police officers were verifying intelligence reports about the presence of NPA rebels in the area when they were ambushed by the NPA. Barangay Mabato is a hinterland barangay in Ayungon town, about 84 kilometers from the province’s capital of Dumaguete City. The village itself is located near the border between Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental.

This ungodly incident should wake the Duterte Administration that if there is a lot of NPA activity in this area, it is due to the realization that the military and police have not really conducted a thorough cleansing of the NPA in this part of Negros Oriental. I hope that the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) would conduct a “Marawi Type” of clearing operation in this area, which is the hotbed of NPA activities in Region-7. I also hope that Pres. Duterte would come up with a report for his SONA on how we can contain the activities of the communists in this part of the nation.

* * *

Last Friday morning a mini dump truck got into an accident in Boljoon town that resulted in the death of nine people and the injury of 15 others, mostly students, heading to the Nutrition Month Cultural and District Meet of the Department of Education. We are talking about children ages 12 to 15, who died simply because they had no seats in the Chinese-made Foton dump truck, where the driver said that he lost his brakes. Boljoon Police Station chief, Lt. Roland Pogoy, said a breath analyzer test they did on the driver Danielo Nieres proved negative.

So with this report, perhaps we should check the Chinese-made dump truck for possible equipment failure. Meanwhile, charges for reckless imprudence resulting to multiple homicide and multiple injuries are set to be filed against the driver after they get the affidavits of the victims and witnesses, many children died in that terrible accident!

* * *

Email: [email protected]