BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) will conduct an investigation as to why the New People’s Army (NPA) had a shirt belonging to the Binalbagan Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO).
Soldiers from the Philippine Army’s 94th Infantry Battalion (94IB) recovered the said Binalbagan DRRMO shirt following a gun battle with NPA rebels in Barangay Oringao, Kabankalan City over the weekend.
Police Capt. Judesses Catalogo, NOCPPO spokesperson, raised several possibilities as to why the rebels had the DRRMO shirt, such as one of the rebels may be related to someone working at the municipal government, or perhaps the shirt was stolen by the rebels.
Catalogo also pointed out that this case is not unique; NPA rebels have a history of using uniforms belonging to the Philippine Army or police in conducting illicit activities.
The NOCPPO spokesperson said they will try to find out who originally owned the DRRMO shirt.
“One way or another, they could be using government shirts and uniforms as a disguise to blend in with the locals,” Catalogo said.
He also confirmed that two of the three rebels killed during the encounter have already been identified: 42-year-old Junjun Callete of Tayasan, Negros Oriental and Joemarie Calumba of Barangay Oringao.
Callete was positively identified by a village official from Barangay Tanlad, Tayasan.
Based on the information provided by Callete’s mother to the authorities, his son was invited to the insurgent group last year by his friends.
Callete’s friends, however, already surrendered to the government after a series of defeats last year.
The mother had also tried to convince his son to surrender but Callete ignored her.
Meanwhile, cops have yet to identify the third fatality in the encounter. The remains are at a funeral parlor in Kabankalan City./PN
