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Wednesday, April 02, 2003
Army confirms NPA presence in Pamplona
THE Philippine Army "Delta Company" of the 61st Infantry Batallion confirmed the presence of armed rebels believed to be members of the New People's Army in the hinterland municipality of Pamplona, Negros Oriental.
S/Sgt. Crispin Bejuna, Delta Company officer, based the report from army intelligence sources confirming that armed men believed to be NPA rebels had been spotted in some hinterland barangays of the municipality.
The reports said that Raul Villar alias Ka Drilon, the main suspect in the 2002 rob-slay in Bayawan City had been seen with armed men roaming and apparently consolidating mass base support in the far flung barangays.
Bejuna said that farmers in the area fear Ka Drilon's presence, but that the army' military operations yielded negative and he suspected that the rebels could have fled before the soldiers arrived.
The army deployed its Delta Company at the Pamplona Plantation owned by Senator John Osmeņa following the sighting of armed groups headed by Ka Drilon in adjacent barangays.
Bejuna said some farmers in Sto. Nino, Tanjay City have fled their homes for fear of getting into trouble with the deployment of the company-sized government force in Pamplona.
He, however, could not give figures on the number of families that have so far left their farms.
Many of those who fled had stayed with their families in the lowlands and refused to return to their homes.
Bejuna assured the people especially in the areas where rebel sightings have been reported to be calm and that the military was doing its best to flush out rebel groups including that of Ka Drilon. JAM
(April 2, 2003 issue)
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