Army reports: Reds avenge loss of bets in Iloilo towns
Army soldiers were called in to help secure a hinterland barangay in Igbaras, Iloilo following reports of harassment and terrow sowed here.
The culprits, according to Captain Lowen Gil Marquez, commanding officer of the 3rd Civil Relations Unit of the Armed of the Forces of the Philippines (CRU-AFP), are the usual suspects in the area.
These, Captain Marquez identified, are a handful communist terrorists belonging to the Souther Front Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF). The leader, he added, is one Ka Jess who was positively identified by locals in Barangay Tigbanaba, Igbaras, Iloilo.
The communist terrorists reportedly began threatening and harassing villagers since Wednesday last week. And this, he was told, "because there were candidates for barangay councilors supported by the CPP-NPA-NDF who lost in the local barangay and SK elections."
Captain Marquez also said that the failure of the party to get these candidates secure coveted seats in the barangay "made the terrorist tactical operation, lambat-paniktik and extortion logistics neutralized and depleted."
"Ka Jess was threatening the barangay populace with his comrades alias Akoy, alias Kim and alias Jovy of Squad Abe under the Souther Front Committee," Captain Marquez continued.
Such as the AFP hierarchy praised the locals for heeding the warning against communist-backed candidates.
"The loss of the CPP/NPA/NDF-backed councilors in the recent elections is a true history of courage and determination of the residents of the Barangay Tigbanaba in Igbaras, Iloilo," the AFP thru Captain Marquez declared. "In their own little way, the residents fought against the terrorists which is a big help and the right move in protecting their family, their freedom, the lives and their properties against the abusive and fascist terrorists of the CPP/NPA/NDF."
Captain Marquez further relayed the appeal of the locals directed to militant groups such as Bayan Muna, Anak Pawis, Gabriela and League of Filipino Students to help the villagers in waging a war against "terrorists CPP/NPA/NDF."
"The decision and resistance made by the populace in Barangay Tigbanaba will serve as an example in all barangays in Western Visayas," Captain Marquez ended. "The real power is not in the communist terrorists and its front organizations but in the people themselves for after all, we believe that the voice of the people is the voice of God."