DAVAO CITY – Communist insurgents on Thursday claimed responsibility for a daring attack on a southern Philippine town and the capture of its police chief.
Rigoberto Sanchez, a rebel spokesman, said the New People’s Army (NPA) is holding Chief Inspector Arnold Ongachen following the attack on May 29 in Governor Generoso town in Davao Oriental province.
He said rebels also confiscated a packet of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride or locally known as shabu from Ongachen, who is currently being interrogated by the NPA. He said the attack targeted the municipal police force “based on the people’s popular demand to punish the protectors of rampant drug trafficking in the area.”
“In fact, Red fighters confiscated a sachet of shabu from Ongachen following the raid. Furthermore, poor peasants and Lumads have complained that policemen have long protected the land-grabbing activities of prominent families in the province,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez said the town have been identified as a gateway of illegal drug trade in the province and that government officials have ignored the existence of the nefarious activities there. He also accused the 28th Infantry Battalion of sabotaging the NPA’s planned raid on a laboratory of being run by drug syndicates in the village of Tibanban.
He said rebel forces seized 11 automatic rifles and pistols from the police armory. The next day, he said, rebels also killed several government troops sent to rescue Ongachen, now a prisoner of war.
President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has called on the rebels to immediately free Ongachen, but Sanchez said “the NPA remains committed to its task of serving the poor and marginalized peasant masses and Lumads.”
“It continues to wage war against the enemies of the people, especially Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police troops who victimize and terrorize the masses. It is the sole army that conducts punitive actions against drug lords, land-grabbers, abusive big miners and criminal syndicates. It is the People’s army that mete out justice against those who plunder the land, the people, and the youth.”
The rebels have been fighting for decades now for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. Duterte said he would reopen stalled peace talks with the communist group and has even appointed recently leftist leaders in his Cabinet. (Mindanao Examiner)
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