TROOPS have seized about 160 kilos of rice allegedly belonging to New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in the hinterlands of Lanao del Sur, military officials announced Thursday.

Lieutenant Colonel Rafman Altre, Army’s 82nd Infantry Battalion commander, said the rice was kept in eight 20-liter containers that were discovered Wednesday, September 3, 2019, in Tagoloan II, Lanao del Sur.

Altre said they had received a tip on the rice stocks from residents in the area.

It was the second time that the troops seized food supplies of the NPA rebels in Tagoloan II.

The first was in April this year, when the troops discovered 21 black containers also filled with rice in the village of Sigayan, Tagoloan II.

Brigadier General Romeo Brawner, Jr., Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade commander, said the discovery of the rice reserves “will make them hungry in the hinterlands.”

Brawner said the command’s focused military operation will be relentless against the NPA rebels in the hinterlands of Lanao del Sur.

“We will not allow these NPAs to sow terror in the hinterland communities,” Brawner said as he urged them to surrender and return to the mainstream society.