DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / May 21, 2013) – The communist rebel group New People’s Army on Tuesday owned up the attack on government troops and the raid at a security agency in southern Philippines.
Rigoberto Sanchez, a rebel spokesman, said the NPA Southern Mindanao Regional Command praised the 6th Pulang Bagani Company of the ComVal-Davao Gulf Sub-Regional Command and the ComVal-Davao East Coast Sub-Regional Command for their successful joint tactical offensive in Tagum City and Mawab town in Compostela Valley province.
He said rebels, disguised as agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, raided the headquarters of the Davao Security and Investigation Agency, Inc. (DASIA) in Tagum City and carted six automatic rifles, two shotguns, ammunition and bullet proof vests.
He said the raid was just near the police base, but authorities were not even aware of the daring assault on the security agency owned by the Escandor family.
“The disarming of the DASIA Security Agency was a punitive action against its owner, the Escandor family, who was responsible for various land grabbing offenses against the Matigsalogs in Barangay Salumanay and Sitio Marahan in Marilog District and versus the Ubo Lumads in Baracatan, Toril District, all in Davao City,” Sanchez said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
He said for 15 minutes, the daring raid was conducted amid high police, military and intelligence personnel at the city’s main business district.
“Caught by surprise, the enemy was only able to dispatch its reinforcement troops after more than 10 hours later. The successful NPA offensive in Tagum City drew the enemy forces to NPA lair, thus making the enemy reaction unit vulnerable to NPA ambuscades. Having anticipated enemy reaction, the NPA operatives hit military troops with two attritive actions resulting to multiple casualties,” Sanchez said, referring to the ambush on Tuesday that left 6 soldiers wounded in Tagum City.
He said another attack destroyed a military armored vehicle in Tuburan village in Mawab town.
“The Tagum City raid and ambush of reaction troops are in line with the call of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines to intensify tactical offensives in order to seize more weapons and create more units of the People’s Army.”
“The intensification of disarming operations and ambush of enemy reaction troops aim to develop fully the political and military strength of Red fighters under the NPA Southern Mindanao Regional Command in order to reach the strategic stalemate in the next few years,” he said.
The rebels have been fighting to overthrow the Filipino government and install a communist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
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