DUMAGUETE CITY: New People’s Army (NPA) rebels allegedly shot dead a former ranking official of the communist movement in Negros Oriental on All Saints’ Day.
Colonel Marion Sison, commander of the 79th Infantry Battalion, said that former NPA vice commander Elmo Taburada, succumbed to three gunshot wounds.
Taburada, from New People’s Army’s Sentro de Gravidad Platoon of the Komiteng Rehiyon Sentral Bisayas-Southeastern Front in Negros Oriental, surrendered to the Army early in 2012 and subsequently lived a “normal life” with his family based in Avocado.
Army officials condemned the attack by the rebels, calling it a “desperate move” by the insurgents who continue to threaten its former members and to inspire fear among residents, Sison said.
The incident, however, is an indication that the government is succeeding in its anti-insurgency campaign, the officials said.
Sison said that the New People’s Army rebels, who left a note at the crime scene, killed Taburada for turning over his firearm upon surrender.
Sison added that he encouraged others to surrender and helped the Army in hunting down other members of the rebel group.
Grenade blast in Agusan wounds policemen, suspect
DAVAO CITY: Four people, including three policemen, were wounded in a grenade explosion in Agusan del Sur early yesterday, police said.
The blast in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur at 2:30am also wounded Ondo Perez, an alleged leader of a kidnapping and robbery gang in the Caraga region, according to Glen dela Torre, provincial police chief. Dela Torre said the explosion occurred hours after policemen swooped down on a hideout of the gang.
The gang is believed to be behind a series of highway robberies plaguing the region recently.
“Concerned citizens had reported the presence of a man acting suspiciously. When our policemen went there to check, the suspect lobbed a grenade at them, wounding three of our enforcers and the suspect,” Dela Torre said.
The police official said the wounded, including the suspect, were now being treated at local hospital.
Perez, a former leftist rebel-turned government militiaman gained notoriety in 2009 when he and a dozen of his armed followers seized a school in a far-flung village in nearby Prosperidad town, kidnapping at least 70 teachers and pupils for several days. He was subsequently arrested for the kidnapping.
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