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Sunday, July 23, 2006
6 killed in communist rebel attack on police station
By Al Jacinto
MANILA -- Five guerrillas and a Coast Guard officer were killed when communist rebels attacked a police station in Sorsogon Province before dawn Saturday as the military vowed to crush communist insurgency.
The rebels, arriving in land vehicles and motorboats, fired on officers at the police station and nearby Coast Guard office in the town of Matnog, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) southeast of Manila, National Police Chief Oscar Calderon said.
Government volunteer troops and a group of soldiers waiting for a ferry ride backed police in repulsing the assault, forcing the guerrillas to withdraw after a two-hour gunbattle, local army commander Brig. Gen. Arsenio Arugay said.
"Unfortunately for (the guerrillas), there were some troops present in the town at the time of the attack. They suffered heavily on this tactical offensive," Arugay said.
Police and military reports said more than 80 communist rebels simultaneously attacked the town of Matnog before sunrise and blew up a bridge.
The rebels broke into small groups as they withdrew, some taking the boats, as army reinforcements arrived, officials said.
Three M-16 rifles and assorted explosives were recovered from the slain rebels, police said.
Calderon ordered police to check hospitals in the area because many of the rebels were believed to have been wounded.
Regional Police Chief Victor Boco said police have foiled several rebel plans to attack the police station in Matnog, the southeasternmost tip of the main island of Luzon, which serves as a ferry connection to central Philippine islands.
The attack came a day after the new military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, vowed to crush the 37-year-old communist insurgency and hours after Northern Command chief General Romeo Tolentino formally assumed as the new Army chief.
"It's all work for now and our priority is to crush communist insurgency and terrorism and other threats to the country's security," Tolentino said.
Tolentino, a veteran of the Mindanao insurgency campaign, said he would also stepped up army's humanitarian and literacy programs to win the hearts and mind of civilians in areas where the New People's Army insurgents are strong.
"This is not all about war or fighting, but also winning the hearts and minds of the people, especially in areas where the NPA is actively operating. And we will win battle because the people are behind us," he said.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered Esperon to crush the communist insurgents and has even set aside P1 billion to help fight the rebel.
"My first order to the troops is to intensify the operation against the NPA and we will destroy them. There is no room to hide, but for the insurgents to lay down their arms and surrender peacefully," Esperon said.
Peace talks between the two groups collapsed in 2004 after the Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front pulled out from the negotiations because of its inclusion to the terror lists of the United States and the European Union on Manila's prodding.
The rebels demanded that Arroyo asks the United States and the European Union to strike them off from the terror lists before they resume peace talks. Manila rejected the demand and suspended safety and immunity guarantee for rebel peace negotiators following the collapse of the talks.
(July 23, 2006 issue)
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