Arms cache recovered from farmer's house
Government troops pursuing a band of communist rebels suspected of bombing a cell site in Tubungan town in Iloilo recovered firearms believed to be left by the rebels in a house of a farmer on Wednesday.
Soldiers belonging to the Army's 79th Infantry Battalion recovered the firearms at the house of Rogelio Tacan in Barangay Igpigus in the neighboring town of Igbaras.
The firearms include four shotguns, a .38 caliber pistol and three hand grenades. Also found were 57 rounds of ammunition for the shotguns and 45 rounds for the .38 caliber pistol, said 79IB commander Lt. Col. Nestor Porlucas in a telephone interview.
Porlucas said that the soldiers were patrolling the area around 8 a.m. when they were alerted after members of Tacan's household ran and closed the windows and door of their house upon seeing the soldiers.
Porlucas said the soldiers immediately cordoned the area suspecting that rebels could be inside the house.
The soldiers at first negotiated with Tacan to open the house but it was only around 3 p.m. that he agreed to allow the soldiers inside after barangay officials helped in the negotiation.
When questioned by the soldiers, Tacan said the firearms were left behind by three unidentified armed men around 4 a.m. on Monday who told him they will return for them later.
Porlucas said the armed men were believed to be part the group of at least ten New People's Army rebels that bombed Globe Telecoms cell site in the neighboring town of Tubungan near midnight on Sunday.
The blasts destroyed hundreds of thousands of pesos worth of equipment including the facility's generator set and control panel and severely damaged the concrete perimeter fence,
They could also be members of the rebel militia "who are farmers during the day and NPA rebels at night."
"They probably decided to leave the firearms because it was nearing daytime already," Porlucas said.
He said that after an attack, the rebels would usually split into smaller groups and rendezvous in a particular area.
While Tacan is a farmer in the area, Porlucas said he is still being investigated for possible links with the rebels.