Police operatives have recovered components for an improvised explosive device (IED) in a remote mountain village in Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental as a result of sustained operations against the communist New People’s Army (NPA).
Lt. Stephen Polinar, public information officer and deputy chief of the Police Community Affairs and Development Unit of the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office, said Wednesday the discovery of the IED components on Tuesday came after a tip from an informant of the 705th Mobile Force Company.
The items, which were found buried in a vacant lot in Sitio Carima, Barangay Talalak, included three pieces of detonating cord; three pieces of main charge; three blasting caps; and one 9-volt battery.
Police operatives conducted a series of combat operations for five days after receiving the tip.
“This is also a result of ongoing local peace engagements as part of the Re-tooled Community Support Program in insurgency-affected areas to ensure that the NPA could no longer pose a threat to the people,” he said.
The NPA’s Southeast Front operating in southern Negros Oriental was already declared dismantled by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, but police and military efforts continue to prevent the remnants of the guerilla front from recouping and recruiting mass base support. (PNA)
