CAMP CAPINPIN, Tanay, Rizal — One female NPA terrorist died after a 10-minute encounter against soldiers at Brgy Mangangan Uno of Baco, Oriental Mindoro on Thursday afternoon.
The military identified the dead terrorist as Lorelyn Saligumba alias Fara, the Political Instructor of KLG ICM’s Platoon Dos and a member of “Morong 43” whom left-leaning organisations branded as “plain health workers” when they were apprehended in 2010.
According to Col Jose Augusto Villareal, Commander of the 203rd Infantry Brigade which has operational jurisdiction over Mindoro Island, government troops recovered from the encounter site one firearm, an IED, technical gadgets, personal effects, food stuff, medicines and voluminous enemy documents with high intelligence value.
He said that “our troops were responding from reports from concerned citizens about the presence of about 10 NPA extortionists who were forcing people to give them food” which, according to him, “is an indicator of the NPA’s crumbling mass base support and the prevailing extreme hunger that they are now suffering in the mountains of Mindoro due to our relentless focused military operations.”
Col Villareal added that his troops will facilitate the corpse’s delivery to a funeral parlor “so that it will be processed in a dignified manner while waiting for her legally authorised relatives to claim the body” while calling the NPAs as “recidivists and opportunists who have the qualms to recruit members but leaves them behind during encounters with no intention of giving them the decent burial that they deserve.”
On Thursday morning, soldiers belonging to 203rd Brigade turned over the cadaver of NPA Leader Elmar Murillo to his parents. A military chopper fetched the dead body from the hinterlands of Socorro, Occidental Mindoro on Sunday, after the first encounter in four days in the island.
Col Villareal ended his statement by assuring the people of Mindoro that “your soldiers will be unrelenting in our efforts to flush these NPA terrorists out of this island so that peace, prosperity and development will finally become the way of life of every Mindoreño.”
Major General Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr, Commander of the Philippine Army’s 2nd Infantry Division which covers Southern Tagalog, congratulated his troops for “your admirable display of commitment and sense of urgency in dealing these terrorists the decisive blows as we apply the finishing touches to insurgency in this part of the country.”
He reiterated that “soldiers do not rejoice in killing our fellow Filipinos, however, we will not be remiss in fulfilling our solemn duty to protect the greater number of peace loving citizens of our country” as he called on the “few remaining NPAs in Southern Tagalog to put down your arms, avail of government grants under E-CLIP, live peaceful lives with your families and join the government in solving the problems of our beloved country.”
Maj Gen Burgos said that the death of this political instructor who was one of the “Morong 43” legitimises and justifies the law enforcement operations conducted by the security forces in Morong, Rizal 10 years ago.
“It only proves the government’s position then that they were NPA terrorists and not the health workers which NPA-affiliated organisations said they were in their propaganda campaign during that time”, ended Maj Gen Burgos.
After the encounter, the military received reports that a 12-year-old boy was caught in the crossfire and was grazed by a bullet on his upper right leg. The soldiers have already reached out to the family, checked on his status and have extended necessary financial and morale support. The boy is in stable condition.
The soldiers condemned the NPA’s act of forcibly mingling with civilians saying that “they are deliberately putting the lives of civilians in danger because it has been their practice to use the people in the community as human shields.”
The soldiers are validating information that many other NPA terrorists have been wounded during the firefight.
The military said that pursuit operations are ongoing and that all personnel, stations and assets in Southern Tagalog have been alerted for possible follow-on deployment.
Joint AFP and PNP checkpoints have been established to prevent the NPAs from escaping through the national highway.
[Kalinaw News is the official online source of information on the pursuit for peace in the Philippines This website is a property of the Civil-Military Operations Regiment, Philippine Army located at Lawton Avenue, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. Contact us: kalinawnews@cmoregiment.com]
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