Police, military troops seize arms cache in Nueva Ecija

From the Philippine News Agency (Nov 22, 2021): Police, military troops seize arms cache in Nueva Ecija (By Zorayda Tecson)

RECOVERED. Photo shows the arms cache and assorted medical supplies belonging to the communist terrorist group that were recovered by police and military troops in Barangay Labi, Bongabon, Nueva Ecija on Sunday (Nov. 21, 2021). The operation was launched after a surrendered rebel revealed the presence and location of the war materiel in the area. (Photo courtesy of PRO-3)

Joint police and military authorities have recovered an arms cache of the New People's Army (NPA) in Barangay Labi, Bongabon, Nueva Ecija on Sunday.

In a report on Monday, Col. Rhoderick Campo, acting provincial director of the Nueva Ecija Police Provincial Office, said an operation was launched after a former communist terrorist rebel revealed the existence and location of the arms cache hidden in the area.

He said the firearms and other items recovered in the operation include an M16 Colt rifle; one long magazine; 5.56-mm ball cartridges; a rifle grenade; non-electrical blasting cap; improvised electric blasting cap; and assorted medical supplies.

Campo said the successful operation was attributed to the intensified community support program of the Philippine Army and the Philippine National Police, and the cooperation of the former rebels who had surrendered and given valuable information to authorities.

Brig. Gen. Matthew Baccay, regional director of the Police Regional Office-3, said “the latest recovery of the arms cache further incapacitates our enemy’s key operatives".

He also commended the troops for successfully implementing President Rodrigo Duterte's Executive Order 70, which aims to end local communist armed conflict through a whole-of-nation approach.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

The Anti-Terrorism Council also formally designated the National Democratic Front as a terrorist organization on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and separate part” of the CPP-NPA that was created in April 1973.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1160535