NPA harassment exercise in futility, Army says
The Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Division said the harassment of the New People’s Army against government forces is an exercise in futility.
First Lt. Mark Andrew Posadas, spokesperson of 3rd ID, said the series of blows experienced by the NPA is a result of the neutralization of several communist fronts in Western Visayas.
The Army has reported the latest activity of the rebels against the Civilian Active Auxiliary Detachment in Brgy. Molina, Tubungan, Iloilo.
On Thursday evening, residents in the area reported to the Army that five NPA rebels led by Roberto Buencochillo alias Jess, a member of the CPP-NPA Southern Front in Panay, fired at the detachment.
Personnel of the platoon-sized detachment returned fire which was followed by a sporadic exchange that lasted for about 30 minutes.
After the encounter, the rebels left behind an M14 magazine, along with some 50 shells of M-16 and M-14.
Posadas said the military has not reported casualty.
“We are already expecting this kind of activities from the rebels because they want to ease up the operation of the military, particularly the 82nd Infantry Battalion, in southern Iloilo,” Posadas said.
First Lt. Manuel Marcon, who is directing the operations in Tubungan area, said the intent of the NPA was to inflict casualties against the soldiers and the para-military forces but the rebels failed.
“If they keep this up, they will run out of ammunition and our job of rounding them up will be a lot easier,” Marcon said.
The military has claimed to have reduced the number of guerilla fronts in Western Visayas in the past two years. In Panay alone, the number of guerilla fronts was reduced to two from four in 2006.
Since then, the 3rd ID has been conducting proactive measures to further topple down fragments of NPA combatants in Western Visayas, Posadas said.
He added that the NPA’s capability to launch full-scale tactical offensives against government security forces has greatly diminished and has led the rebels to attack “soft targets” like civilians.
“More than ever, they are now experiencing a hard life in the mountains. The people don’t support them anymore. That’s why, to advance their extortion rackets, they want to project that they are still a force to reckon with,” Posadas added.*
