‘NPA terrorizing Negros'

From the Visayan Daily Star (Jul 22): ‘NPA terrorizing Negros'

The New People's Army is bent on terrorizing Negros Island Region, Maj. Gen. Jon Aying, 3rd Infantry Division commander said yesterday.

Six policemen and a civilian died yesterday in separate attacks initiated by the New People's Army in Sitio Gi-ob, Brgy. Magsaysay, Guihulngan, Negros Oriental. Three policemen and two civilians were also hurt, military records showed.

Aying said the attempt of the NPA to kill Guihulngan City Councilor Eddie Dela Rita and the inhumane killing of the six policemen and a civilian is a clear manifestation of their true intent of terrorizing the Negros Island, to prove that peace and development is far from realization.

Col. Eliezer Losañes, commanding officer of the 303 rd Infantry Brigade, said “this barbaric act will not go unpunished”.

“We will continue to conduct pursuit operation to give justice to our law enforcers who are simply performing their duties,” Losañes said.

“This actions of the NPA simply show their true nature, that they are indeed terrorists and that they continue to deceive the people to advance their selfish interest”, he added.

. Dela Rita, who was initially reported as missing, and his driver survived and were under police custody. But the councilor's body guard Michael Jambalos was killed, Senior Inspector Armilyn Vargas, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office 18, said.

Supt. Arnel Arpon, Guihulngan City police chief, one of the six policemen who died in the ambush, used to be assigned as police chief of Bago and Sipalay cities in Negros Occidental, before he took up a career advancement course, for his promotion to the rank of senior superintendent.

The other policemen killed were Senior Police Officer 2 Mecasio Tabilon, SPO1 Jesael Ancheta, SPO2 Chavic Agosto, and PO2s Alfredo Dunque and Alvin Bulandres.

Wounded were PO3 Jordan Balderas, PO2 Jorie Maribao, and SPO4 Jerome Delara, De la Rita and his driver.

The two ambush incidents took place as the Communist Party of the Philippines ordered tactical offensives against government forces, following plans of President Rodrigo Duterte to extend martial law in Mindanao for another five months.

Before the ambush in Guihulngan, the NPA in central and northern Negros claimed responsibility for the ambush of a sugar planter and his driver in Calatrava, the liquidation of a former Army soldier in Canlaon City and a leader of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army in Salvador Benedicto.

Col. Eliezer Losañes, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, recalled that Dela Rita was among those being targeted for liquidation by the NPA, and his name was found in documents recovered during an encounter with communist rebels last month in Negros Oriental.

The Guihulngan City Police Station in Negros Oriental, where Arpon served as police chief, and thecpolice stations of Himamaylan and Kabankalan cities in Negros Occidental, are also among the targets for attack by the NPA, the seized documents showed.
Arpon led a group of 15 policemen, who tried to rescue Dela Rita and his two companions, but they were ambushed by about 60 suspected NPA rebels armed with high powered weapons , Losañes said.

It was a certain Edward Jimenez, a local government employee, who reported to the Guihulngan City Police Station that Dela Rita was ambushed in the barangay, a Police Regional Office 18 report showed.

Aying said the NPA atrocities will continue if security forces and the public will not be vigilant. He also revealed that there are some politicians who are helping the rebel group to get even with their political opponents.

The 303rd Infantry Brigade and the Regional Public Safety Battalion 18 have already shifted some of their troops to central Negros, to help in the conduct of pursuit operations against the rebel ambushers.

Two years ago, the provinces of Negros Occidental and Oriental were both declared as peaceful and ready for further development by their respective provincial governments, and concurred in by the Philippine Army.

http://www.visayandailystar.com/2017/July/22/topstory1.htm