Suspected members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army in northern Negros bombed a cellular site of the Globe Telecom in Hilaitan, Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental early this week with the use of a still undetermined type of improvised explosive device.
Sr. Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas, chief of the Regional Intelligence Division of the Philippine National Police Regional Office 7 based in Cebu City, disclosed that by all indications and the manner in which the bombing was carried out, authorities are strongly considering the CPP-NPA as the alleged perpetrators.
Lawas further disclosed that even as the CPP-NPA has not issued a statement claiming responsibility for the crime, the police believe the group has the motive, after reports received by the PNP showed the NPA hierarchy has allegedly issued a directive to resume its tactical offensives against the government.
A progress report submitted by Chief Insp. Errol Garchitorena, Jr., Guihulngan police chief, to the Philippine National Police in Negros Oriental and the Regional PNP Office-7 in Cebu, disclosed that an explosion was heard around 10:30 p.m. Monday at Barangay Hilaitan, Guihulngan.
The police, however, received information about the bombing only the following morning as potential witnesses who heard the blast apparently feared retaliation from the suspects and did not immediately report the incident to authorities.
Guihulngan police who responded Tuesday morning said the crime scene was already “contaminated” as Globe Telecom personnel, headed by a maintenance engineer, were already there.
Recovered at the scene of the bombing incident were pieces of shrapnel and broken metal, and a broken part of a cellular phone key pad, believed to have been used by the perpetrators.
A team from the PNP Scene of the Crime Operatives and post-blast investigators from the Negros Oriental PNP provincial office, who arrived later, took soil samples at the blast area to determine the type of explosive used by the suspects. The SOCO team also found a wire insulator from where the explosion occurred.
Further police investigation showed that a certain Danny Carampatan of Barangay Hilaitan revealed that soon after the explosion, he and other residents in the area heard several bursts of gun fire or possible warning shots, a customary practice of NPA rebels after a mission was accomplished.
Carampatan also revealed that they heard the sound of a pumpboat engine revving up in the sea waters of Hilaitan shortly after the blast, and that the vessel was believed to have headed towards nearby Cebu province.
Globe personnel reportedly remained silent when asked about the bombing incident, even as police investigators believe that the incident is seen as a retaliatory act by alleged NPA rebels after their “extortion attempt for revolutionary taxes” from the said telecommunications company was not heeded, the police report said.
Sr. Supt. Lawas also said that the bombing incident could also be one of the NPA’s demonstration that they are still “a force to reckon with”, amid the plans for the resumption of peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front-CPP-NPA.
Also, the police in Guihulngan have initially included in their assessment that the “sudden pull out” of the 32nd Reconnaissance Company of the Philippine Army in Barangay Hibaiyo, Guihulngan, gave the rebels an opportunity to move freely in the area.
The village of Hilaitan in Guihulngan, where the Globe cell site is located, is among the barangays in Negros Oriental that remains affected by the insurgency problem, said Lawas.
Police investigators lament the seemingly uncooperative attitude of Globe Telecom personnel, who allegedly did not coordinate with the Guihulngan police station at the start of the year regarding private security personnel.
Damage to the cell site was pegged at P1-million although the extent of the blast was not immediately known.