Grateful Captive NPA Rebel Led Army Troops to a Huge Arms Cache

CAMP ELIAS ANGELES, Pili, Camarines Sur – Grateful to the Army soldiers’ humane treatment to him, a captive NPA member pinpointed the location of an NPA arms cache during the pursuit operations conducted in Camarines Sur yesterday, a military report said.

Major General Ruperto Pabustan, Commander of the 9th Infantry Division, said that one of the rebels who was captured by the 31st Infantry Battalion on July 29 (Friday), led the soldiers to the location of the buried firearms at around 10:30am yesterday in Tible village of Lupi town.

Responding soldiers led by First Lieutenant Rey Canlobo unearthed five Cal 5.56mm M16A1 Assault Rifles, two Cal .45 Thompson Submachineguns and a Cal 5.56mm Ultimax Squad Light Machinegun.

Pabustan claimed that the rebels cooperated to the military due to its right approach during military operations. He cited that the soldiers never harm captured NPA rebels to show their sincerity in respecting human rights provision.

“We are in the right track in our ISO campaign as we have won the support of the people. As you can see, a tipster among the residents in Tible village led to the successful encounter last Friday and now, one of the captured rebels himself led our troops to their large arms cache, appreciating the humane treatment that he received from my soldiers,” said Pabustan.

The captive NPA member was one of the three rebels captured by Army soldiers in an encounter in the same village on July 29 (Friday). Four high-powered firearms were also confiscated during said encounter.

Pabustan is confident that the CPP-NPA-NDF will ‘die naturally’ due to the cooperation extended by the people to the military. He said that the primary efforts of the Philippine Army is the implementation of the various peace and development programs of the government which is more effective in addressing the root causes of the insurgency problem than combat operations.

As of this date, the Army in Bicol has confiscated a 46 high-powered firearms and 27low-powered firearms from the communist rebels, lowering the number of the NPAs firearms to at least 302 high-powered firearms and 31 low-powered firearms.