More than 200 families that evacuated to safer grounds following the recent encounter between government troops and alleged New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Bindoy, Negros Oriental have already returned to their homes.
Bindoy Mayor Valente Yap, however, has expressed concern about further and repeated “displacement” of hinterland residents in the event of more clashes between the two groups.
In an interview Monday night, the mayor said that 278 families were evacuated following the April 14 encounter between Army soldiers and suspected NPAs at Sitio Kampong-oy in Barangay Cabcaban.
In an interview Monday night, the mayor said that 278 families were evacuated following the April 14 encounter between Army soldiers and suspected NPAs at Sitio Kampong-oy in Barangay Cabcaban.
The evacuees were housed at two school buildings in Barangay Cabcaban, as well as at the covered court and some chapels, he added.
According to him, the local government provided assistance such as rice to the evacuees while asking help from the regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Majority of those who fled their homes stayed for at least three days but have since returned to their villages, Yap said.
However, some chose not to return as yet, with their husbands or other male family members just returning to till their farms.
These people live in constant fear, the mayor said in the Cebuano dialect, noting that this is the first time for Bindoy to experience an armed clash between government troops and NPA guerillas.
According to him, the local government provided assistance such as rice to the evacuees while asking help from the regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Majority of those who fled their homes stayed for at least three days but have since returned to their villages, Yap said.
However, some chose not to return as yet, with their husbands or other male family members just returning to till their farms.
These people live in constant fear, the mayor said in the Cebuano dialect, noting that this is the first time for Bindoy to experience an armed clash between government troops and NPA guerillas.
“We did not expect an encounter in Bindoy just like those that happened previously in the adjacent towns of Mabinay and Manjuyod,” he went on to say.
In the Cabcaban incident, Army soldiers overran a temporary lair and recovered high-powered firearms and other personal belongings allegedly belonging to the NPA rebels. No one was hurt on the government side but the Army believes that some rebels were wounded or killed in that clash.
The town mayor admitted that the “dugay na ning presence nila nga atong mga friends sa NPA dire ug tungod sa kadugay na nila, naka create na sila ug connection sa mga tawo (the presence of our friends from the NPA has been around for quite some time now and because of that, they have already established a connection with the people),” he said.
The military, meanwhile, continues its anti-insurgency operations in these hinterland areas, he said.
He is hoping that there will be an end to the problem because otherwise it would be a constant cycle of civilians being caught in the crossfire.
Bindoy is part of what the police and military have tagged as BATMANAY (an acronym for the adjacent municipalities of Bindoy, Ayungon, Tayasan, Manjuyod and Mabinay) which the NPA is allegedly eyeing as an expansion area.
In the Cabcaban incident, Army soldiers overran a temporary lair and recovered high-powered firearms and other personal belongings allegedly belonging to the NPA rebels. No one was hurt on the government side but the Army believes that some rebels were wounded or killed in that clash.
The town mayor admitted that the “dugay na ning presence nila nga atong mga friends sa NPA dire ug tungod sa kadugay na nila, naka create na sila ug connection sa mga tawo (the presence of our friends from the NPA has been around for quite some time now and because of that, they have already established a connection with the people),” he said.
The military, meanwhile, continues its anti-insurgency operations in these hinterland areas, he said.
He is hoping that there will be an end to the problem because otherwise it would be a constant cycle of civilians being caught in the crossfire.
Bindoy is part of what the police and military have tagged as BATMANAY (an acronym for the adjacent municipalities of Bindoy, Ayungon, Tayasan, Manjuyod and Mabinay) which the NPA is allegedly eyeing as an expansion area.
The NPA, the armed group of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army, is considered a terror group by the United States, European Union and several countries including the Philippines.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1067906
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1067906
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