PAGADIAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / May 25, 2013) – Communist rebels on Saturday disarmed a former village leader and a civilian in Zamboanga del Sur’s Lapuyan town in southern Philippines, police said.
Police said about a dozen gunmen wearing military uniform entered the village of Mandeg and introduced themselves as New People’s Army rebels and went on to Monico Mandeg and seized his ,45-caliber pistol.
The rebels also confiscated two more .45-caliber pistol and a shot gun from Camilo Anguid.
The rebels fled after the confiscation of the weapons, leaving the two men shaken by the incident.
Just this month, dozens of NPA rebels disguised as government troops also raided the Camp Blessing in the town of Bayog in Zamboanga del Sur and carted weapons issued by the military to local militias.
The rebels, numbering about 40, also seized communication equipment from village chieftain Reynaldo Villaver. They stayed for about 45 minutes in the village before fleeing to the hills.
The rebels have been fighting for decades now in an effort to overthrow the democratic government and install a separate Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
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