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Friday, January 23, 2004
PNP confirms NPA build-up, Army beefs up force
By Adrian Sedillo
DUMAGUETE CITY -- The Philippine National Police (PNP) provincial command has confirmed the build-up of New People's Army (NPA) rebels in Negros Oriental even as government beefed up military hardware for "a mapping operation" in the hinterlands.
On Monday, two helicopter gunships from the Philippine Air Force and an armored personnel carrier (APC) war tank from the Philippine Army arrived in Negros Oriental.
PNP Provincial Director S/Supt. Amaron Morrok said the deployment of military hardware followed recent talks between him, Gov. George Arnaiz, and Lt. Col. Rey Guerrero of the 61st Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army.
Morrok said this is also in response to the confirmed deployment to Negros Oriental of some 100 armed rebels from outlying provinces, monitored to have arrived aboard motorized boats and landed in Siit, along the coast of the southern municipality of Siaton.
He said intelligence reports revealed the armed men are now in the common hinterland boundaries of Siaton, Zamboanguita, and Sta. Catalina.
He said Gov. Arnaiz has requested additional troops from the army to run after the armed men.
Morrok clarified that the armed men that landed in Siit were the same group that were earlier reported to have landed in the municipality of Guihulngan up north last month.
The military's "mapping operation" started Monday.
Meanwhile, the PNP and the Philippine Army have strengthened security around the province's vital installations that include the Philippine National Oil Company complex in Valencia, oil depots, and the city's airports and seaports.
Morrok said that aside from army and airforce personnel, PNP ground forces of the 705th and 704th commands are conducting patrols.
He did not discount the possibility of an open warfare with the rebels, explaining that the build-up meant the NPA are preparing for major attacks.
Early this month, NPA rebels torched down two Ceres buses in Canlaon City to allegedly demand an increase on their revolutionary tax from the operator of the Vallacar Transit.
Also early last December, a band of NPA rebels allegedly clashed with government forces in two separate incidents in the hinterlands of Siaton and Sta. Catalina leaving one soldier wounded.
Right after the attack, a platoon-size NPA rebel group raided the base of the breakaway communist faction Revolutionary Proletariat Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade in Kakha, Sta. Catalina, carting away 12 heavy firearms including a grenade launcher. A RPA-ABB member was killed in the clash.
Another RPA-ABB member died later of serious gunshot wounds at a hospital in Dumaguete City.
(January 22, 2004 issue)
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