Caraga army general warns candidates not to deal with rebels

From the Philippine Information Agency (May 7): Caraga army general warns candidates not to deal with rebels

Following the arrest of two rebels suspected of collecting “permits-to-campaign and campaign-to-win fees,” the army general based in Caraga region has cautioned candidates “not to make a mistake of forging a deal with the New People’s Army (NPA).”

Brigadier General Franco Nemesio Gacal, commander of the 402nd Infantry (Stingers) Brigade, said that once evidence to this effect could be found out such would certainly be detrimental to the status especially of winning candidates of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) on May 14, 2018.

He stressed that not only would they be charged of appropriate cases in conniving with terrorists, these charges would likewise jeopardize their victory.

Candidates were allegedly being charged P15,000 per head and asked to sign a memorandum of agreement (MOA) containing several conditions, Gen. Gacal pointed out.

Among the terms cited, according to the army general, were not only the ban on the recruitment of both Indigenous Peoples (IPs) and CAFGU but the setting up of CAFGU detachment in their respective barangays as well.

Gacal expressed belief that he would not be surprised had there be rampant collection activities of this kind in areas where rebels’ influence were strong like those tagged as Election Watchlist Areas (EWAs) region-wide.

It was not immediately known how many were classified as EWAs in the whole of Caraga but the province of Surigao del Sur was reported to have about 50 barangays as mentioned by PNP Provincial Director PSSupt. Francisco Dungo, Jr.

“Now temporarily detained in Surigao City Jail,” BGen. Gacal identified the two rebels as Larry Vergara, 48 and Felipe Daragoza, 47, residents of Mainit, Surigao del Norte and Agusan del Sur, respectively.

Seized from the two were two improvised explosive devices (IEDs), one (1) unit icom radio charger, one (1) pair of combat boots, one (1) improvised homemade shotgun and P53,000 in cash believed to be “extortion money.”

He suspected that these two rebels were among those 15 NPA terrorists belonging to the Guerilla Front 16B who had clashed with the 30th Infantry Battalion under LTC Allen Raymund Tomas in Brgy. Can-aga, Malimono, Surigao del Norte at 5:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 5, while troops of the latter were conducting security operations.

The NPA camp which had been overrun yielded one (1) M16 rifle, six (6) improvised explosive devices (IEDs), 10 backpacks, one (1) hand grenade, seven (7) hammocks, bullets, one (1) icom radio, one (1) sack of rice, medical supplies and subversive documents.

http://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1007590