Kalinaw News: Army and NPA extortionist clashes in Brgy. Pinanag-an, Borongan City

Posted to Kalinaw News (Jul 26, 2020): Army and NPA extortionist clashes in Brgy. Pinanag-an, Borongan City

ORAS, Province of Eastern Samar – Troops of 78IB while conducting security patrol engaged in a brief gun battle more or less seven (7) Communist NPA Terrorist (CNT) at Sitio Demingle, Brgy. Pinanag-an, Borongan City, Eastern Samar on July 25, 2020, 7:50 a.m (Saturday).

The firefight lasted for a few minutes, which led the group of NPA scampered to different directions. The NPA left behind one (1) improvised grenade, two (2) magazines with ammunition for M16, communist documents and personal belongings.

Having been in the brunt of the NPA’s excessive extortion scheme, the civilians fed-up on the NPA’s extortion demand boldly came out and provided the information about the location of the NPA terrorist that led to the armed engagement. The barangay folks now speak about the massive extortion collection happening in many years in the barangays along the stretch of the Suribao River. A former NPA supporter added that the NPAs are collecting one (1) ganta of rice in every farmer, cash collections for every family ranging from 5 to 50 pesos a month depending on the source of income. Even root crops such as cassava and sweet potato harvests of the farmers didn’t escape from their excessive resource generation activity.

As the country is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, these NPA terrorists continue to exacerbate the people’s conditions by forcibly taking their food that resulted in more scarcity of essential resources in these far and isolated barangays.

Lt Colonel Oliver C Alvior, Commanding Officer of 78th Infantry (Warrior) Battalion Commanding, extends his gratitude to the civilian populace who overcome fear and does the right thing to stop such an oppressive extortion scheme. “Your Philippine Army will not hesitate to use legitimate military force against those armed groups that threaten the people’s safety and well-being,” he added.

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https://www.kalinawnews.com/army-and-npa-extortionist-clashes-in-brgy-pinanag-an-borongan-city/