By CYRUS M. GARDE and RUBY P. SILUBRICO
BACOLOD City — Government troopers are now hunting the man who they believe led the New People’s Army (NPA) members who attacked a sugar central’s transloading station in Escalante City, Negros Occidental, early this week.
This developed as two of the attackers were allegedly wounded in an encounter with the Army in Calatrava town the other day.
Col. Jon Aying, Philippine Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, ordered his men to find alias “Kumander Adoy,” leader of the so-called Cherry Mobile Patrol of the NPA.
Soldiers believe Kumander Adoy and his minions destroyed several vital equipment at the Lopez Sugar Central’s transloading station in Sitio Sta. Ana, Brgy. Mabini, Escalante City.
Aying said Adoy had long been wanted for spearheading rebel atrocities, including the bombing of a water system in Victorias City several years ago.
He said the rebel leader was previously arrested in San Carlos City but was able to post bail.
Once he is arrested, Kumander Adoy will be slapped with charges for arson — a non-bailable crime — among others, Aying said.
In Sunday’s Escalante attack, the company’s crane was destroyed by an improvised explosive device. The weighing scale platform and the core laboratory were also ruined, while a Fuso hauler truck was damaged.
The Sitio Sta. Ana property is owned by the Ballesteros family. Damage was estimated at more or less P10 million. Some 25 NPA members were allegedly involved.
On Thursday, at about 6:30 a.m., elements of the 62nd Infantry Battalion were having an offensive patrol against the suspects in Sitio Baybayon, Brgy. Hilub-ang, Calatrava, when they caught up with armed men.
A firefight ensued between the two groups and lasted for 20 minutes. The armed men later fled, with two of them wounded, the Army said.
Residents tipped the soldiers off about the presence of at least eight armed rebels in the area, said Lt. Col. Rommel Cordova, 62nd Infantry Battalion commander.
“We were able to locate the group of NPAs responsible for the arson and damage of sugar milling equipment in Escalante City,” Cordova declared.
The military recovered from the encounter site a loaded magazine for an M14 rifle.
No casualty from the government forces was reported.
Cordova and his men strongly believe the armed men they exchanged gunfire with were the ones who attacked the sugar central’s transloading station.
“We have alerted our medical team to watch out for the wounded NPA members who would seek medical assistance,” said Cordova. “We call on those rebels to come out and lay down their arms peacefully, and they will be given proper medical attention.”
Meanwhile, Aying said there are still about 200 armed NPA members operating in Negros Occidental, mostly in the north.
He also said the people, especially in the hinterlands, are “highly vulnerable” to the rebels’ recruitment tactics due to various factors, including poverty, joblessness, and lack of access to and lack of awareness on basic government services.
These problems cause people to be misled by the wrong ideology and thereby rise against the government, Aying said.
Also, the Army official said their campaign to encourage rebels to return to the fold of law continues.
In three years’ time, some 200 surrenderees were enticed by the government’s Bayanihan initiative (Serving the Countryside, Working with the People), which is part of its “Winning the Peace” program, he said.
According to the Armed Forces, more than 100 NPA members have surrendered since the arrest of top communist leaders Benito and Wilma Tiamzon in March.
Benito was the chairman while Wilma was the secretary-general of the Communist Party of the Philippines–NPA.
They were arrested on March 22 by virtue of warrants for multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder.
Military data showed there were 4,000 NPA rebels in the country as of 2013./PN
