By Sarwell Meniano and Roel Amazona/PNA
TACLOBAN CITY — The New People’s Army (NPA) should take the blame why several families in San Jorge, Samar have been displaced due to ongoing hot pursuit operations, the Philippine Army said in a statement issued Thursday.
Capt. Cherry Junia, acting public affairs office chief of the Army’s 8th Infantry Division, said government troops have been in Bay-ang village in San Jorge town to pursue communist rebels who attacked the soldiers of 63rd Infantry Battalion two weeks ago. The ambush slightly injured nine soldiers.
“The presence of troops in San Jorge is to help track down rebels and to safeguard the people from the resurgence of the NPA terrorists,” Junia said.
In a social media post, the communist rebels claimed that 37 residents in Bay-ang village moved to the town health center for fear of being caught in the crossfire between government troops and rebels.
The rebels also asked the military to pull out its troops from the village to allow people to return to their normal economic activities.
“The recent discovery of large camp in Bay-ang that merely shows that the military was not the first one who created threat among the localities, it is the terrorists New People’s Army. The camp signifies that they have stayed long in the area to conduct extortion, recruitment and other illegal activities that made the people of Bay-ang suffer every single day,” Junia said.
The camp has four multi-purpose halls, one big mess hall, one classroom with medical facilities, one training ground, four caves with one supply room, restrooms, and five kitchens. Recovered inside the camp were 13 posts, laminated sacks, one C type claymore mine, oil container with gas, 122 bunkers, two generators, two M16 magazines, one .45-caliber magazine, assorted wires, 10 water containers, one command switch for bomb, eight assorted light bulbs and subversive documents.
“In fact, the NPA terrorists should be the one to leave the people of Bay-ang not the military, because the presence of the military is to secure and protect the well-being of the people.”
The military will continue its pursuit operation until these terrorists stop their illegal activities, Junia said.
Earlier, the Philippine Army said the Jan. 12 encounter between government troops and rebels in San Jorge town has derailed the planned attacks of the group in Eastern Visayas. The troops discovered the encampment after two days.
The military said rebels have been planning to launch tactical offensives in Leyte and Samar provinces, prompting the brigade to step up their combat operations in northern part of Samar Island, considered as NPA’s stronghold in the region.
The Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union. The communist rebels have been battling government forces for 50 years. The communist rebellion in the Philippines is one of Asia’s longest-running insurgencies.
