In my most recent NPA entry I discussed the acceleration of NPA Tactical Offencives that always takes place during the interim period between the announcement of their annual,unilaterally declared holiday season ceasefire and its commencement.I mentioned that the weeks during that short window are usually extra bloody.The bad news of course is that I was correct,people died and were otherwise maimed.The good news,if there can indeed be any good news when non-combatants lose their lives,is that none of it took place here on Mindanao.
The AFP has screamed to anyone willing to listen that the engagement in Las Navas,Northern Samar Province, Samar Island, on Tuesday, December 14,2010 was a blatant violation of that afore mentioned ceasefire,despite the ceasefire not beginning until Thursday,December 16.A 12 man detachment from the 63IB (Infantry Battalion) was en route to its garrison when ambushed by the NPA .Of the 12 men,10 died almost immediately from the IED (Improvised Explosive Device, i.e. "Bomb") which precipitated the by the books ambush while the 2 survivors were badly wounded. Perhaps the saddest part is that a 9 year old boy was also killed.The boy,Joven Cabe,died from shrapnel generated by the IED.The NPA captured 10 M16s,every weapon in that detachnent.
0n December 10,just 4 days before this ambush the NPA ambushed a pump boat (local type of small inter-island ferrying craft) with a detachment of 6 soldiers aboard from the 83rd CMOU (Civil-Military Operations Unit) who boarded in Barangay Poblacion and were en route to Barangay Poponton. After the craft had just crossed the border of Barangays Taylor and Victory along the Hinaga River it was ambushed by the NPA. 5 soldiers immediately dived into the river as civilian passengers aboard the small craft took the brunt of the attack.2 of those non-combatants were killed,1 of which,Edward Gugdad,was a 15 year old young man.
In July the AFP proudly announced that pacification of Northern Samar was rolling right along and recommemded that the provincial government launch a tourism campaign.Less than a month later,on August 21,2010,the NPA slaughtered an 8 man PNP (Philippine National Police) detachment.As a rule I only discuss Mindanao but the last attack on Samar,2 days prior to commencement of the ceasefire,became a major issue with regard to AFP Propaganda that accuses the NPA of"violating"a ceasefire that IT conceived and implemented.
Although nobody was killed on Mindanao during the interim,the NPA here was by no means dormant (and neither was the AFP). On the same day that those 10 soldiers in Northern Samar were killed,Tuesday,December 14,the NPA again dressed in AFP uniforms and by subterfuge,and without firing a shot,were able to capture 2 M16s, 2 pump shotguns and 2 45 pistols.Clad in their army fatigues the 30 guerillas made their way to Barangay San Ignacio in Manay,Davao Oriental Province.Approaching an IFM (Integrated Forest Management) office the disguised guerillas managed to wrangle a truck.Using the truck they made their way to Barangay Old Macopa in that same town and split into 2 smaller detachments and then approached the home of Barangay Captain Romeo Antoling.Upon their arrival at the Antoling home the guerillas announced that their detachment was on a Hot Pursuit Operation in search of an NPA detachment.Simultaneously,the 2nd NPA detachment did the very same thing at the home of the Barangay Captain's son,Romeo Antoling Jr.,who lost 1 40 caliber pistol and two 12 gauge shotguns.
Romeo Antoling Sr.is lucky not to have been executed given his personal history.On June 13, 2010 Antoling Sr.had invited local radio commentator Desidario "Jessie" Camangyan to emcee a barangay kareoke contest.At 11PM that evening as the finalists were giving it their all his live-in girlfriend (the Philippines does not recognise Common Law Marriage) was holding their baby and watched in horror as a man stepped out of the crowd,raised his 45 caliber pistol and shot Jess to death.
At a meeting about the death days later at the Manay town hall, his grieving lover looked up as the municipality's PNP (Philippine National Police) officers entered the room to update the gathering on the nascent investigation.All of a sudden a shriek pierced the room as she became hysterical.When she had sufficiently re-gained her composure she pointed to 1 of the PNP officers,PO1 Dennis"Jess"Esteban Lumikid and said that he was the killer she had personally witnessed.The deceased radio commentator had been critical of both illegal logging and illegal gambling and Antoling Sr.,who has his own small paramilitary to protect his illegal logging operation,decided to silence the 52 year old broadcaster.Knowing that the deceased was in dire straits since his station,"Sunshine FM,"in the neighbouring town of Mati placed him on hiatus,he offered him 3,000 Pesos for a nights works ($70,half a months pay for a labourer) along with a pump shotgun (aaaaaah, "guns and Mindanao," I think it would make a bloody good tourism slogan).
Officer Lumikid was formally charged on July 05,2010 by a dedicated (in the sense that they were especially empanelled to investigate only this case) task force but had been detained since June 23 when the investigatory panel,Task Force Camangyan,initially filed the charges with the Davao Oriental Provincial Prosecutor.Since June 23rd he had been kept in the custody of his superiors at PNP Provincial Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit (where he had been transferred since June 24).Antoling was charged by the Task Force on that same day, June 23rd.On November 10, 2010,Lumikid was finally arraigned but Antoling had his charges dismissed for lack of evidence,at the end of August.
Ergo, having your weapons stolen instead of being shot to death for being the loser you are COULD be seen as a stroke of luck.Just depends on perspective I guess.
The love affair between Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Davao City and Leonicio"Ka Parago"Pitao,CO (Commanding Officer) of the NPA's Merardo Arce Command continues this holiday season.As I had written in at least one recent NPA-themed entry, Duterte and his daughter,Mayor Sarah"Inday"Duterte Carpio have been whispering sweet nothings to Ka Parago as they practically beg the guerilla leader to come out of the mountains and enjoy Xmas in the city.Parago of course refused the kind offer and instead invited both father AND daughter up to his mountain lair.Sunday,December 26 will mark the 42nd Anniversary of the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines) and all NPA Regional Commands hold large gatherings.The 2 strongest Regional Commands,NEMR (North East Mindanao Region) and Parago's,SMR (Southern Mindanao Region) have the largest of these get-togethers.Indeed,on December 20th as Vice Mayor Duterte ordered Davao City PNP not to arrest Parago,et al the Vice Mayor announced he WOULD in fact be going to Parago's camp to be spending at least a part of the Xmas holiday.
Speaking of Ka Parago's Merardo Arce Command,on December 17,1 day after the ceasefire began,the NPA was forced to very quickly re-position itself when the 1003Bde (Brigade) began heavy troop movements as it Forward Deployed in Davao City's Paquibato District.The AFP is feigning innocence,claiming it was NOT a tactical deployment at all but rather a large logistical shift to ready the district for CMO/PDT actions (Civil-Military Operations such as medical outreaches and the cobstruction of school buildings,and of course the latest Hearts and Minds weapon,"Peace and Development Teams".PDTs as they are called in military shorthand are day-to-day CMO liasons and actors who spend weeks in a given barangay.On the other hand,CMO elements rarely spend a single week in 1 locale).
Parago is on everbody's mind these days...On Friday,December 17,2010,Sheriff Abe Andress told a Davao City Court that try as he might,he just could not find Parago's camp (riiiight, as if he even entered an NPA held district).Sheriff Andress had been"looking"to serve a subpoena to Ka Parago over a Writ of Amparo filed by local woman,Juanita Gomez.Juanita's husband,Jerry Gomez,had been selling ice cream for 4 years in an NPA controlled area when Merardo Arce Command's PBC1 (Pulang Bagani Command #1, the company sized element that Parago personally comands) abducted him in late August,2010.A Writ of Amparo is designed to offer families relief in cases of enforced disappearances.Primarily designed to be utilised by people having good cause to believe the GOVERNMENT has abducted a loved one,the Writ,if granted by a court,compels the entity so charged to produce the missing person post haste.It can also be utilised by the family to gain protection from retaliatory intimidation and/or violence.To my knowledge this is the first attempted utilisation of a Writ of Amparo against a non-governmental entity.Ms.Gomez says she received a phone call on December 01,from the NPA telling her not to worry,that her husband is OK and will be returning home shortly.
That same day,December 17,one day after the ceasefire began,a joint AFP/PNP checkpoint in Barangay Pili,Bayugan,Agusan del Sur Province,a car carrying 5 men was flagged for inspection and searched.Upon identifying the 5 men in the vehicle it was discovered that all 5 were NPA guerillas from NCMR (North Central Mindanao Region).1 of the 5 is a High Value Target, 67 year old Pedro"Ka Gonyong"Codaste.Codaste was en route to Butuan City in Agusan del Norte Province to spend Xmas with his family.Codaste was nabbed on a Warrant out of Regional Trial Court,Branch 8,in Malaybalay City,Bukidnon Province.The charges,Multiple Murder and Frustrated Multiple Murder,stem from tactical operations.The NPA,CPP and NDF (National Democratic Front) each condemned the arrests,especially Codaste's,as a violation of the ceasefire.The AFP maintains that since he had a Warrant it was an act of Law Enforcement.By the end of he week the NDF claimed Codaste was a member of the NDF negotiating team though they didn't specify as to when he joined that effort (seeing as how his name has never appeared on any NDF lists submitted to either GRP OR Norway,the Facilitating Nation.The claim of an arrestee being from either the NPA OR CPP belongs to the NDF Peace Process is extremely relevant since any person belonging is automatically imbued with immunity from arrest,detention and prosecution.
On December 18,2010 an ex-NPA guerilla who withdrew from the movement in 2006 was shot to death by a SPARU (Special Partisan Armed Revolutionary Unit,3 to 5 person assasination squads) for being an IS-AFP (AFP Intelligence) asset.Randy Acao Umpo,a farmer,was alone and listening to the radio at his home in Sitio Mamaon,Barangay Sibula,Toril District,Davao City when shot on the right side of his chest and died instantly.Ironically he had belonged to a SPARU Team himself.
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