Wednesday, January 03, 2007 3 minors believed to be NPAs conduct raid in Escalante, seize firearm By Nicolas C. Delfin
THREE alleged neophyte members of the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People's Army (CPP-NPA) raided a house in Sitio Magtalisay, Barangay Cervantes, Escalante City last New Year's eve.
Armed with unknown caliber of short firearms, the three minor suspects, whose ages ranged from 16 to 20, reportedly barge into the house of Angelino Villanueva and carted away an M-14 rifle, 20 live ammunitions and one unit ICOM based V9-handheld portable radio.
Villanueva, 56, is a member of the Bantay Dagat unit in Barangay Cervantes.
The rifle and ammunition, on the other hand, allegedly belonged to SPO1 Petronio Lim of Escalante City Police.
Initial police investigation showed that the three suspects identified themselves as members of the CPP/NPA and the assault was part of their "Agaw Armas" operation.
After 10 minutes, the three alleged NPA's fled on foot towards Sitio Mocaboc, Barangay Washington also in Escalante City.
Last year, the NPA rebels also raided a Bantay Dagat headquarters, including the house of a village chief, and seized a Thompson sub-machine gun, an ICOM based radio, an M-16 rifle, an M-14 rifle and a 12-guauge shotgun in Barangay Salamanca in Toboso town.
