Manhunt on for 10 suspected NPA members in Negros Oriental

From the Sun Star-Cebu (Feb 24): Manhunt on for 10 suspected NPA members in Negros Oriental

THE Central Command (Centcom) vowed to hunt down New People’s Army rebels in Negros Oriental who set fire to a 10-wheeler dump truck last Thursday afternoon.

Col. Medel Aguilar, Centcom spokesperson, said they will not rest until they locate the insurgents, whom he described as having resorted to banditry.

“If you mention NPA, what is always attached to that is the act of violence, an act of terror,” he said.

Medel said the rebels are extorting money from business owners whose properties are burned if they fail to give in to their demands.

In Sitio Tabalugo, Barangay Budlasan, Canlaon, Negros Oriental, the dump truck was set on fire by 10 suspected NPA members. Samuel Barnayha, 37, drove it.

When the truck arrived in Tabalugo to haul sugarcane, the 10 armed men shouted at Barnayha to leave before setting fire to the vehicle, which belonged to Lito Albellar, 50.

Aguilar said that the NPA committed several atrocities in Negros Oriental last year, including the murder of 21 persons in separate incidents.

Last July, five police officers and their commander, Supt. Arnel Arpon, were also killed in an ambush in Barangay Magsaysay, Guihulngan City.

The following month, Junjun Benido, the barangay captain of Hinakpan, Guihulngan City, was shot dead.

 http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2018/02/24/manhunt-10-suspected-npa-members-negros-oriental-590560