Army troops of the 79th Infantry Battalion are now tracking down the whereabouts of 20 armed men, including a woman, who were reported to have arrived in Guihulngan City in northern Negros Oriental on Wednesday afternoon.
The arrival of the unidentified armed group in Guihulngan City was on the same day the 3rd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, headed by Maj. Gen. Jon Aying, activated the 600-strong 2nd Negros Island Geographical Battalion in Negros Oriental in ceremonies in Dumaguete City.
Lt. Col. Roderick Garcia, 79th IB commander, in an interview Thursday disclosed that a civilian first reported the sighting of the said armed group to the police in Guihulngan City, who he believes are “Communist terrorists”.
Garcia said he deployed his troops immediately after receiving the information to validate the report and are now conducting operations in the hinterlands of Guihulngan.
A police report on Thursday also corroborated the Army report that around 3:10 p.m. Wednesday, a group of more or less 20 armed men, including a woman, was sighted by concerned citizens at Sitio Matu-og, Barangay Basak in Guihulngan City.
The armed group, wearing camouflage fatigue were on board two pumpboats that docked at the shoreline of Matu-og, the police report from the Negros Oriental Philippine National Police Provincial Office said.
The report further said that the unidentified armed individuals walked across the national highway going to the hinterlands of Barangay Binobohan and Barangay Mani-ak of Guihulngan, a city about 116.3 kilometers north of this capital.
They were seen carrying assorted high-powered firearms to include Carbine and M16 rifles and a machine gun.
The police report further said the armed group is believed to carry out tactical offensives against government troops, vital installations and to disrupt the upcoming fiesta celebration of Guihulngan City on May 25 as well as the tentatively scheduled Federalism Summit there.
Lt. Col. Garcia said he strongly believes it is the Communist terrorists, referring to the New People’s Army who arrived in Guihulngan, and not the extremist kidnap-for-ransom group, Abu Sayyaf.
According to Garcia, the lone female in the group, who he said must be an “amazon” or lady-fighter, was speaking the Visayan dialect.
Garcia further said these armed individuals could be remnants of the NPA’s South Eastern Front operating in southern Negros Oriental, specifically in Sta. Catalina town.
Acting provincial police director Sr. Supt. Henry Biñas said the armed group appears to be pressured by the ongoing military operations in Sta. Catalina that drove them instead to Guihulngan.
Biñas said he has instructed his policemen to be on the lookout for these armed individuals. (Judy Flores Partlow)
