“ISOLATED.”
That was how Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office Spokesperson Lieutenant Judesess Catalogo described Tuesday, September 6, 2022, the recent murders perpetrated by members of the Communist Terrorist Groups (CTG) in the province.
Since last month, Catalogo said, the police and military have conducted intensified operations resulting in the arrest and deaths of the rebel-members and top leaders which weakened their forces.
With the recent murders they committed, it only implies that they [CTGs] have regrouped themselves and had replaced their comrades who were arrested and killed, he said, adding that the province remains peaceful.
“We consider it manageable and we are still in control,” Catalogo assured, as he lamented that the CTGs have returned to their barbaric ways in killing those who are against their cause.
Major Lumayen Lidawan, chief of Calatrava Municipal Police Station, was advised by Regional Director Brigadier General Leo Francisco to coordinate with the army in increasing the security specifically in the far-flung areas, the Nocppo spokesperson added.
The Roselyn Jean Pelle Command (RJPC) Northern Negros Guerilla Front of the New People's Army (NPA) had owned up the killings of a barangay captain and two civilians in Calatrava town last month.
RJPC spokesperson Cecile Estrella, in a statement, said they killed Barangay Lalong Captain Benjamin Javoc at their house alleging that he is notorious for protecting drug dealings within and nearby barangays.
Estrella said the late barangay captain has likewise committed crimes against the people and the revolutionary movement by being an active military asset mounting an intelligence network within the barangay.
Catalogo said that its quite unfair to link him on these issues.
Contradicting the rebel’s statement, Catalogo said, the police conducted an investigation and asked for the copy of the Calatrava Municipal Police Station’s Drugs watchlist and did not see Javoc’s name there.
Before they killed Javoc, the rebels also admitted the killing of civilian, Renato Estrebillo, 43, from Sitio Huybesan in the town’s Barangay Marcelo, for tipping off enemy operating troops of the 79th Infantry Battalion that resulted to an indiscriminate firing, she said.
Estrella added that the incident left two children injured and caused trauma to the residents while a civilian was arbitrarily arrested afterwards.
The rebel spokesperson also claimed that Estrebillo was also notorious for theft of farm products and animals.
The rebels also claimed responsibility in the death of Rodel Nobleza, 37, of Sitio Kamao also in Barangay Marcelo.
Nobleza was one of the responsible for causing the army's treacherous raid against the NPA in April 2019 where two rebels and a civilian were killed, they added.