THE Army's 53rd Infantry Battalion (IB) facilitated the return of the remains of a New People’s Army (NPA) rebel, who died in a recent clash and was abandoned by his comrades, to his family in Zamboanga del Sur.
Nilo Tambula Jr., who carries the aliases of Ka Benjie and Ka Cesar, was killed in a clash with government troops on June 27 in Dipawak village, Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur.
Tambula was a former member of the defunct Guerilla Front Big Beautiful Country (BBC) under NPA’s Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee (WMRPC).
The clash ensued as troops launched an intensified operation against the remnants of the NPA’s WMRPC in Zamboanga Peninsula.
Lieutenant Colonel Jo-ar Herrera, commander of the Army’s 53IB, expressed his gratitude to the Dumingag Municipal Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (MTF-Elcac) for the efforts to facilitate the return of the remains of Tambula to his relatives.
“Our thanks to Dumingag MTF-Elcac for helping us return Nilo to his family,” Herrera said.
“The 53IB will continue to uphold and respect human rights. Our humanity and professionalism do not stop even after our enemy is neutralized,” Herrera added. (SunStar Zamboanga)