Army soldiers discover abandoned NPA training camp in Sorsogon

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 14): Army soldiers discover abandoned NPA training camp in Sorsogon

Government troops have discovered an abandoned New People’s Army (NPA) training camp in a secluded site of a village not far from the downtown of Magallanes, Sorsogon.

Operatives belonging to the 31st Infantry Battalion (IB) of the Philippine Army (PA) based in the nearby Juban town discovered the abandoned rebel camp on Tuesday, a belated report released here Thursday by the PA’s 903rd Infantry Brigade (IB) based in Castilla, Sorsogon said.

The 903rd IB is the PA unit in charge of Internal Peace and Security Operations (IPSOs) in the southern section of Bicol and the 31st IB is its operational arm covering part of Sorsogon province.

Col. Joselito Kakilala, 903rd IB commander, said the NPA improvised installation believed to be a training camp was discovered by a team led by 1Lt. Rory Esico in Sitio Barayong of Barangay Tula-Tula Sur, less than two kilometers from the poblacion of Magallanes town.

The camp whose makeshift huts could accommodate at least 100 persons is strategically located in a forested site and believed to be abandoned by the NPA rebels the night before it was discovered by the soldiers, Kakilala said. “It has a good source of water and provided with good cover by lush vegetation. Combat training facilities and a hut, serving as classroom complete with teaching paraphernalia like blackboards and writing and reading materials, were found inside the camp,” he said.

The troops, Kakilala added, invited two persons seen at the training camp’s vicinity and one admitted that he was a “student” attending anti-government lectures in the facility. The two, the PA commander said, were turned over to Barangay Chair Eduardo Velazco of Tula-Tula Sur.

Kakilala said he had commended 31st IB commander Lt. Col. Teody Toribio and Esico for the successful discovery of the rebel camp by way of convincing civilian residents in the village to cooperate with the government in its anti-insurgency drive.

The presence of the camp and suspicious persons occupying it was reported by nearby residents to the PA team, he said. “Our various field operatives are continuously scouring areas within their respective areas of responsibility to flush the rebels out of their hiding camps and dismantle whatever facilities they have established for their anti-government activities,” according to Kakilala.

“We already have most of the civilian populace in Sorsogon villages in our side and they have been reporting to us the presence of suspicious elements or armed groups in their localities,” he added.

Magallanes is one of the 14 municipalities and one city of Sorsogon province classified as either NPA-influenced or controlled areas. “We and the entire military group will continue to conduct relentless combat operations against the rebels to stop their plans, training and recruitment of innocent youths to join their ranks,” Kakilala stressed.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=497694