Kalinaw News: Philippine Army discovers CTG arms cache in Mahaplag, Leyte

Posted to Kalinaw News (Jan 5, 2023): Philippine Army discovers CTG arms cache in Mahaplag, Leyte

Camp Jorge Downes, Ormoc City, Leyte— On January 5, 2023, troops of the 14th Infantry (Avenger) Battalion discovered an arms cache consisting of four (4) high-powered firearms in the vicinity of Barangay Maligaya, Mahaplag, and Leyte. The said arms cache consists of one AK-47 assault rifle, an M16 Armalite rifle, an M1 Garand rifle, a 40mm M79 grenade launcher, and assorted magazines belonging to the Communist Terrorist Group (CTG), Platoon 1, Sub-Regional Command-LEVOX, and the Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee (P1, SRC-LEVOX, and EVRPC). The local populace and former CTG supporters in the area reported the location of the said CTG arms cache to the government troops.

“This achievement displays the support of the civilian populace to the Philippine Army as they no longer want the Communist NPA Terrorists (CNTs) to regain their influence and control in the communities, much more of stock piling food supplies and armaments.” Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto R Dela Rosa, Battalion Commander, 14th Infantry Battalion said. “With our implementation of Community Support Programs (CSPs) in the communities, we have driven away the CTGs and eventually facilitated the delivery of basic services by the concerned line government agencies and offices to the communities in the area”. Dela Rosa added. “Likewise, our Operation Plan “PAHIBALO”, an information and security awareness program, equipped the civilians with right information to make them strong enough to stand against the CTG exploitations and deceptions”. Dela Rosa ended.

“I reiterate my call to the remaining NPAs who are still hiding in the mountains in our area of responsibility to surface and join their families in the mainstream of our society. You are no longer welcomed by the people in the communities since they are already with us in our efforts to end this 54 years of local communist armed conflict. They are now giving us the information on your whereabouts, the locations of your pre-positioned foods in the area and even your arms caches.” Colonel Noel A. Vestuir, Commander, 802nd Infantry (Peerless) Brigade, 8th Infantry (Stormtroopers) Division, Philippine Army said. “You could not hide and evade us forever without food, without the support of the people who you consider as your mass base, and you could not fight us without your firearms. To the owners of these recovered firearms, I once again call on you to go down, avail the benefits of the balik-loob program and the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) being offered by the government, than continue to suffer from hunger and all the dangers while hiding in the mountains.” Vestuir concluded.

 

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