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Saturday, September 25, 2004
Top NPA leader slain in Pantukan encounter
By Ben O. Tesiorna
ONE of the nine rebels killed during an encounter in Pantukan in Compostela Valley on Wednesday was reported to be a high-ranking political officer.
The 5th Civil Relations Group chief Col. Agane Adriatico revealed this during a telephone interview Friday afternoon.
Adriatico identified the rebel officer as Manuel Fernandez alias "Ka Mawi" of the Pulang Bagani Command 3 (PBC3) of the New People's Army. The colonel said Ka Mawi served as the political and finance officer of PBC3 operating in the boundaries of Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte and Davao Oriental provinces.
Adriatico said there were around 14 rebels actually killed in the encounter, but the authorities recovered only nine bodies.
He identified those killed with their aliases - Ka Babe Hot, Ka Mawi, Ka Parago, Ka Pingping, Ka Noli, Ka Bencio, Ka Arnel, Ka Poncio and Ka Baldo.
Adriatico said their relatives claimed four of the dead rebels while the remaining five corpses were ordered buried by barangay officials of Napnapan at
Sitio Lawaan as they were starting to decompose.
Maj. Gen. Samuel Bagasin of the 4th Infantry Division said Wednesday's encounter was the result of a major military operation conducted by Army's 404th Brigade in Pantukan for several days now.
Prior to the major gunbattle last Wednesday, there were three minor encounters in the area since September 19.
The latest gunbattle happened at around 7 P.M. on September 22 at sitio Lantawan, Barangay Napnapan in Pantukan.
Bagasin said the rebel group belongs to the NPA's PBC3 under Eduardo Genelsa alias Ka Lando.
Recovered were one M60 machinegun, one baby armalite with M203 grenade launcher, three M16, one M14, one carbine, a shotgun, two revolvers, four landmines, 10 dynamites and three night vision goggles.
Bagasin commended the soldiers for a job well done. He said the encounter was a major accomplishment for the military.
Bagasin said the incident is a major blow to the rebel movement, saying they expect demoralization on the NPA ranks in the region.
"We believe we have broken the backbone of the NPA in the area with this series of encounters. We are expecting another wave of surrenderees because of this in the near future," Bagasin said.
(September 25, 2004 issue)
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