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Tuesday, June 01, 2004
Army, police on parallel intel v. NPA hitsquad
By Erwin Ambo S. Delilan and Christine Mae A. Pelayo
IN EFFORTS to ensure peace and order in Negros Island, police and military joined forces in launching parallel intelligence operations against suspected rebels from Bohol, Cebu and Samar areas who allegedly sneaked through the island.
Supt. Mark Edison Belarma, acting director of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOPPO), disclosed Tuesday that he already alerted his men especially the chiefs of police in all towns and cities in the province to be always on alert.
He said all police units have been directed to monitor any suspicious-looking personalities in their respective areas of assignment.
Last week, Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sodusta, commander of the 303rd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army based in Murcia town, revealed about 50 Cebuano-speaking men were monitored to have entered the island.
Reports disclosed that these men were members of the "hit squad" of the communist New People's Army.
Sodusta warned troopers against being complacent but to be on constant heightened alert to thwart any atrocities that the NPAs might launch.
Belarma also said that the police intelligence monitoring of the province almost coincided with that of the Army.
The acting police director added that based on the latest update of their intelligence monitoring, these Cebuano and some Tagalog speaking men were monitored in Cadiz City in northern Negros.
The cities of Cadiz, Escalante and San Carlos serve as entry points to the island.
As for the northern Negros police, Belarma said they are now ready to go against these rebels.
Belarma, on the other hand, refused to confirm reports that these suspected rebels form part of the destabilization troops here in Negros Island.
False alarm
On the other hand, outgoing Bacolod City Mayor Luzviminda Valdez said the reports on the presence of an NPA hit squad in the city are rumors.
"The allegations that are part of the military intelligence and the talks of destabilization are just misinformation aimed at making the image of the cities in the province as chaotic," said Valdez.
She described it as just part of the scripted or established scenario in the reported destabilization plot.
She added, "I hope this is not what it seems. We don't know where this information came from."
Valdez said that the city will not let these "mere talks" pass as Noppo and the BCPO are already looking into the situation and are conducting rigid monitoring in their respective areas of responsibility.
(June 1, 2004 issue)
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