Army sees fall of more NPA fronts with death of top leader

From the Philippine News Agency (Jul 28, 2023): Army sees fall of more NPA fronts with death of top leader (By Nef Luczon)

DEAD NPA LEADER. Dionisio Micabalo, secretary of the New People’s Army in North Central Mindanao Regional Command, was killed by government troopers on Wednesday (July 26, 2023) in Barangay Libertad, Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental. Before his death, Micabalo has been on the run since 2020. (Photo courtesy of 4ID)

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The military has bolstered the dismantling of New People's Army (NPA) guerrilla fronts in the Northern Mindanao and Caraga regions following the death of another top communist rebel leader in the area.

In a statement Friday, Maj. Gen. Jose Maria Cuerpo II, Army 4th Infantry Division commander, said all seven guerrilla fronts of the NPA North Central Mindanao Regional Command (NCMRC) have been dismantled by government forces in the two regions since 2020.

He said the 4ID is maintaining its momentum to finish off the NPA in the region following the death of Dionisio Micabalo, 61, the NCMRC secretary, on July 26 in an encounter with government troops in Barangay Libertad, Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental.

"Since 2020, Micabalo became highly mobile in evading capture and engagements with our troops. With his death, his criminal acts are stopped and justice is served to the hundreds of innocent victims of their crimes," Cuerpo said.

Micabalo's group is linked to numerous criminal activities in the provinces of Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, and parts of Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur, he added.

Before his death, Micabalo, a resident of Dancagan, Bukidnon, was facing multiple charges of rebellion, murder, frustrated murder, and arson charges before local courts.

Micabalo was one of two top NPA leaders in the Northern Mindanao-Caraga area, with Myrna Sularte, the secretary of the NPA North Eastern Mindanao Regional Committee still on the run.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1206642