Three groups of private armies were simultaneously raided on July 15 by the New People’s Army-Northeastern Mindanao Region (NPA-NEMR) in two towns in Agusan del Sur to dismantle them completely and put a stop to their antipeople activities.
The targets were an armed group under Lumad Calpet Egua based in Sta. Irene, Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur; another Lumad group armed by Egua in Sitio Inagawan, La Purisima, Prosperidad; and a bandit group in Bitan-agan, San Francisco, Agusan del Sur. The NPA conducted the simultaneous raids at dawn.
In La Purisima, Prosperidad, an NPA unit successfully raided a Lumad private army supplied with about 20 firearms by Egua. The NPA seized seven M16s, an M14 and two pistols. Some of the armed men ran away, but one of them opened fire, killing a Red fighter. A number of the bandits have criminal liabilities.
In San Francisco, Agusan del Sur, bandit leader Renato Villaverde was killed in the raid mounted by a platoon of NPA guerrillas. The Red fighters also seized a carbine, a cal .45 pistol and a 9 mm KG. A guerrilla was wounded in the fighting. The other bandits ran away. The group is responsible for several cases of highway robbery in San Francisco and adjacent towns.
In Sta. Irene, Prosperidad, an NPA platoon raided Egua’s compound which served as his private army’s stronghold at exactly 5:50 a.m. The raid was a failure and resulted in ten Red fighters killed and some wounded. On the other hand, four elements of Egua’s private army were killed, including his brother who, like him, was also a murderer. A civilian driver was caught in the crossfire and killed.
The NPA incurred still another casualty when the military attacked the NPA blocking force in Barangay Hamugaway, Bayugan City. The other NPA blocking force in San Salvador, Prosperidad also engaged in a firefight with the military, but it was the AFP that suffered one dead and one wounded. There were no casualties on the NPA side.
Egua’s private army was organized with the help of the Philippine Army, the Philippine National Police and the local government to enable Egua to control the mining areas in Manhulayan and make money for his handlers. When Egua became a powerful warlord, he seized areas held by other Lumad, including those of other mining businessmen. He was quickly able to expand his private army to more than 60 armed men, enhancing his control over mining and logging areas along the Agusan del Sur-Surigao del Sur border. Egua’s private army is responsible for many crimes like massacres, extrajudicial killings, rape and the ambush-slays of even his Lumad relatives. Aside from making money for his military and police handlers, the AFP also used him for counterrevolutionary activities. In a statement, National Democratic Front-NEMR spokesperson Ka Maria Malaya said that the attack on Egua was a blow for justice.
The NPA’s simultaneous attacks on three private armies in Agusan del Sur forms part of the New People’s Army’s main task of dismantling all armed instruments of the reactionary state being used to defend the interests of landlords, big comprador bourgeoisie and US imperialists. This latest endeavor by the NPA to dismantle private armies cost the lives of 14 Red fighters, including a civilian driver. Nonetheless, said Malaya, this will not diminish the NPA’s determination to dismantle private armies that threaten the interests of the broad masses of the people.
She hailed the heroism of the martyred Red fighters who gave up their lives to liberate the broad masses from exploitation and oppression. She called on the relatives, friends and comrades of the slain Red fighters to turn their collective grief to revolutionary courage in order to advance the aspirations begun and left behind by the revolutionary martyrs.
Meanwhile, Malaya also apologized to the family of the driver who was caught in the crossfire and killed in the incident, and said that they would try their best to extend financial assistance. She also apologized to the owners of vehicles rented by the NPA for the raid and promised to find ways of fulfilling their financial obligations to them.
She also explained to the general public that there was an ongoing civil war, where the people’s army—the NPA—launches tactical offensives to dismantle the armed instruments of exploitation and oppression, and gradually gain strength in order to raise its capability to demolish the armed strength of the ruling classes.
[Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the
http://www.philippinerevolution.net/publications/ang_bayan/20140721/npa-mounts-simultaneous-raids-on-3-private-armies-in-nemr
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