Family retrieves rebel’s body

From the Sun Star-Cagayan de Oro (Nov 20): Family retrieves rebel’s body

THE body of the slain New People’s Army (NPA) member who died in an encounter with the military in a mountain village in Claveria, Misamis Oriental on November 18, was retrieved by his family Thursday, the Provincial Government said.

The casualty, Francisco Manseguiao, 21 years old, who hailed from Sitio Lantad, Barangay Kibanban, Balingasag town, was killed when the military and insurgents figured in a firefight somewhere in Barangay Minalwang, Claveria.

Provincial Administrator Edmundo Pacamalan Jr. said Manseguiao’s family requested Governor Yevgeny Vincente Emano to collect the remains of the fallen rebel for a proper burial in his hometown.

Pacamalan said the military brought Manseguiao’s body to Barangay Hagpa, Ipasug-ong, Bukidnon and was turned over to the local government unit there.

Based on reports received by the Provincial Government from the area, Manseguiao’s corpse was already placed in a body bag and awaiting for transport.

The military, through emailed statements it sent to Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro's on Thursday, has confirmed that troops from the Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Battalion (8IB), a unit of the 4th Infantry Division, killed an NPA member during one of the encounters, although it did not identify the casualty.

In a statement emailed by First Lieutenant Norman Tagros of the 8IB, the military said the NPA groups that the battalion clashed with are from the SPP TOTO, GF-4B, NCMRC under Lino Namatidong, alias Dahon, and the Headquarters Force of North Central Mindanao Regional Committee under Dionisio, alias Muling.

Tagros said the troops recovered from Manseguiao an AK-47 rifle, pieces of ammunition, and propaganda documents of the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People’s Army and National Democratic Front.

Tagros said the military and the local government unit responded to the appeals of the threatened local populace in the said area after receiving reports that armed rebels repeatedly visited the community and subsequently conducted extortion activities.

“They (civilians) were also forced by the rebels to evacuate their homes blaming them for the conduct of combat operations in the nearby areas.

Prompted by this alarming report, the 403rd Infantry Brigade conducted the combat operations in the area to protect the local populace,” he added.

Lieutenant Colonel Lennon Babilonia, 8IB commanding officer, said in a statement that “there were bloodstains in the encounter site so we believe that there were other NPA members who got fatally wounded.”

Babilonia said the military is calling on the wounded insurgents so that they can be given proper medical attention and not to be afraid “as our government, through our LGUs, is most willing to help them. Again, we are urging our brother NPAs to lay down their arms and go back to the folds of law, as there is no sense in fighting each other anymore.”

“The loss of lives and limbs, as we have seen today, can only give us grief and not the solution to the issues they were led to believe into,” he added.

In a separate statement, Major Jennan Montealto, 403rd Brigade Civil Military Operations officer, said last Tuesday’s encounter lasted for almost 30 minutes that resulted to the death of an NPA member and no casualty on the government force’s side.

“The operating troops of [403rd Brigade] under the command of Col. Jesse A. Alvarez countered the attempts of the NPA to disrupt the ongoing rescue operations and in the process, they suffered at least three wounded aside from those killed, as reported by concerned civilians in the area,” Montealto said.

In a previous interview, 4ID acting spokesman First Lieutenant Patrick Martinez said the combat operations being conducted by the military was part of the efforts to rescue Private First Class Marnel Cinches and Private First Class Jerrel Yorong who were snatched by the NPA in Impasug-ong last August 22.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cagayan-de-oro/local-news/2014/11/20/family-retrieves-rebel-s-body-377716