SOLDIERS of the Philippine Army raided an abandoned camp of suspected New People’s Army (NPA) at Sitio Madaja, Barangay Buenavista in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental Tuesday morning.
A report from Police Regional Office (PRO)-Western Visayas said the troops led by Captain Allen Marl Tacorda of the 62nd Infantry Brigade based in Tanjay City, Negros Oriental went to the camp around 10 a.m.
The rebels were no longer around when they arrived. The troops though heard gunfire from about a kilometer away.
The camp served as the rebels’ training ground, and can be occupied by about 100 individuals.
It has a hall, 15 bunkers, and two comfort rooms.
Troops recovered from the camp medical equipment, binoculars, civilian boots, five boxes of chalks, two sacks, a radio antenna, and 20 sacks of charcoal.
On Tuesday, President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a proclamation declaring the communist insurgents as "terrorists."
Duterte signed the proclamation following Duterte's command conference with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police held in Malacañang.
The classification of terrorist applies only to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the NPA.
The CPP’s political wing, the National Democratic Front (NDF), is exempt from being labeled as a terrorist organization.
“It's a proclamation (signed by Duterte) declaring the Communisty Party of the Philippines, New People's Army as a designated, identified terrorist organization,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said.
“So as the President has stated before, he has finally classified the CPP-NPA as a terrorist organization within the purview of the Human Security Act,” he added. (with reports from SunStar Philippines)