ARMY troopers pursuing New People's Army (NPA) rebels who are behind the massacre-ambush in Barangay Puso, La Castellana discovered an empty encampment believed to have been occupied by the fleeing communists.
Colonel Oscar Lactao, 303rd Brigade commander, said that one section from the 3rd Scout Ranger Company of the 1st Scout Ranger Battalion discovered the empty encampment in Barangay Humay Humay, Guihulngan, Negros Oriental during the weekend.
The encampment is believed to have been occupied by more or less 30 NPA rebels for about two weeks ago, he added.
The troops discovered in the area used firewood, empty wrappers of biscuits, energy drinks, insect repellant, sotanghon, used clothing and bottles of softdrinks and alcoholic beverages.
Earlier, 302nd Brigade commander Colonel Franciso Patrimonio said the pursuing troops have pinpointed the area were the NPA rebels sought refuge.
He said that after the ambush-massacre that left nine dead and 14 others injured, the rebels retreated toward Moises Padilla town passing through Barangay Quintin Remo, and crossing to the Oriental side of the island.
Meanwhile, the Diocese of Kabankalan in Negros Occidental joined various sectors in condemning the massacre.
It said the admission of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) came with "distortions of facts, a bundle of justification and promises of indemnification, which were meant to sanitize the barbarity of the act and impress the world of the group's faithful adherence to agreements it signed with the government."
The peace advocate group headed by Delia Locsin, chair of the Paghiliusa sa Paghidaet-Negros, also said that the rebels were "not only tolerating" abuse of civilians but were in fact "allowing it."
The group has called on “Frank Fernandez, NPA Negros spokesman, and Luis Jalandoni, chief negotiator of the National Democratic Front, who are both former priests" and "pray for their better discernment."
“Jalandoni's warning that charges of war crimes against the NPA led by Magno Flores could jeopardize the ongoing peace negotiation is a bluff. The CPP-NPA-NDFP leadership must surrender their members and those who ordered the ambush must be made accountable,” it said. (TDE)