The 79th Infantry Masaligan Battalion of the Philippine Army based in Negros Island has filed charges of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition against a suspected member of the New People’s Army that the Army has branded as Communist terrorists.
Lt. Col. Roderick Garcia, battalion commander of the 79th IB, in an interview Thursday afternoon, identified the suspected Yunit Militia of the Communist terrorist groups operating in northern Negros as Pedro Serguelis.
Around 4 pm of July 3, the Army troops were conducting combat operations in Barangay Trinidad in Guihulngan City when they chanced upon Serguelis.
Confiscated from Serguelis were one homemade caliber .357 revolver with 13 rounds of ammunition, one homemade shotgun with five round of ammunition and one pistol-grip homemade shotgun.
Serguelis was advised to report to the Guihulngan Police Station for proper disposition as the government troops were still in hot pursuit of other Communist terrorists and could not bring him down from the mountains at the time, said Garcia.
However, Serguelis did not heed the advice and never presented himself to the police, Garcia added.
Nevertheless, the 79th IB still filed a case against him.
Yunit Militia is an armed group of the Communist terrorists embedded in the barangays to collect food and money from the community through intimidation, said Lt. Jec Manaoang, civil military operations officer of the 79th IB.
It also acts as force multiplier, guide, or source of information when the Communist terrorists conduct tactical offensives or terroristic activities like ambush, raids, arson, and murder of civilians whom they believe are government informants, Manaoang added.
Also on June 30 at 4:30 in the afternoon, the 303rd Infantry Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army encountered more or less 30 suspected NPA members at sitio Agpapatao in barangay Sandayao, Guihulngan City, said Lt. Manaoang.
Troopers from the 79th IB under the 303rd Brigade conducted pursuit operations afterwards, that resulted in the recovery of one M14 rifle, ammunition, “subversive documents and war materials”.
Combat operations continue in Guihulngan City and nearby areas in response to public clamor from the communities there of the alleged Communist terrorists activities “terrorizing” civilians, said the 79th IB commander. (Judy Flores Partlow/PNA)
