ILOILO City – People are getting tired of supporting the New People’s Army (NPA) in Panay Island, according to the Philippine Army.
Proof: Information from civilians helped the police and military track down the seven rebels killed in Barangay Atabay, San Jose, Antique on Aug. 15, according to the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division (3ID).
“The tip-off from the civilian populace resulted to the successful neutralization of these terrorists,” said Major General Dinoh Dolina, 3ID commander.
He dismissed as propaganda the NPA’s claim that what happened in Barangay Atabay was not an encounter but a massacre of seven sleeping people.
That civilians themselves were offering information to the authorities about rebels showed that “people are already fed up with the NPA,” said Dolina.
He urged civilians to resist the NPA’s extortion activities.
“Giving in to their demands means feeding their wants and taking part in their criminal activities,” said Dolina.
According to the police and military, the seven killed rebels were members of the NPA’s taxation group.
“The only way to stop the extortion is by not giving in to their demands. This will make the rebels irrelevant forever,” said Dolina.
The general dismissed as a lie the claim of NPA-Panay’s Coronacion Chiva Waling-Waling Command spokesperson Julio Montana that the so-called recoveries in Barangay Atabay – guns, ammunitions and extortion letters, among others – were “planted.”
“How can we plant all those recoveries? Ka Julio and his comrades are known for fabricating lies, especially in situations like this,” said Dolina.
Joint police and military forces that operated against the seven rebels reported to have seized the following: three hand grenades, two .40mm ammunitions, two rifle grenades, a homemade single-shot 12-gauge shotgun, two homemade .38 revolvers, a homemade KJ9 pistol, three magazines for KJ9, and two empty magazines of an undetermined gun.
Also seized were two laptops (MacBook Pro and Lenovo), a netbook, 22 analog mobile phones, seven Android phones, five tablet computers, and Canon DSLR camera, five Canon DSLR spare batteries, two pocket WiFis, a power bank, three SD cards, a thumb drive, 22 assorted SIM cards, three transistor radios, four disposable lighters, four wristwatches, 14 assorted mobile phone chargers, four headsets, a keyboard, assorted wires, and a bolo.
Addressing Montana, Dolina said, “The public is well aware of the lies being perpetuated by your organization. After you made ridiculous statements in some local media entities, you became a laughing stock. Take time to read the public’s comments on the social media sites of these media entities.”
Meanwhile, according to human rights group Panay Alliance Karapatan, all the seven killed rebels had gunshot wounds on the head.
This indicated that the seven were most probably sleeping when they were peppered with bullets, said Reylan Vergara, secretary general of the rights group.
The gunshot wounds on the heads and chests appeared to be “finishing shots”, added Vergara.
According to Karapatan, what happened was a “massacre” and a violation of the international humanitarian law.
“NPA or not, they had rights. These should have been respected,” said Vergara.
Senior Inspector Norby Escobar, information officer of the Antique Police Provincial Office, insisted that what happened was a legitimate operation.
“We have witnesses,” he said.
Escobar also said documents recovered proved the casualties and their group were collecting revolutionary taxes./PN
