CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines -- The Philippine Army in Central Luzon on Saturday presented to Armed Forces Chief of Staff Victor Ibrado what it described as the biggest cache of high-powered firearms recovered so far from the New People’s Army in the region.

The arms included 14 M-16 rifles, one M-14 rifle, a Garand rifle, a two-way radio, a bolt for M-16, two rifle grenades, 1,179 rounds of ammunition for M-16, 114 rounds for Garand, 26 short and long magazines for M-16 and assorted bandoleers, according to Col. Jose Mabanta, commander of the 703rd Infantry Brigade.

The stock was found in a drum buried in Sitio Bulo Dam, Barangay Kalawakan in Doña Remedios Trinidad town in Bulacan, Mabanta said. The area is within the Sierra Madre mountain range.

Troops from the Charlie Company of the 56th Infantry Battalion located the drum following information provided by a vice-commander of the NPA who surrendered to the military. Residents helped to pinpoint the location, Mabanta added.

He said the drum was unearthed on May 7.

Maj. Gen. Ralph Villanueva, 7th Infantry Division commander, presented the cache to Ibrado at the 56th IB headquarters in Sapang Palay, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan on Saturday.

“We are inclined to believe that the NPA has so much arms and less combatants now,” Mabanta said when asked why the communist army would bury its arms. The drum, he said, was buried for over a month now after being moved from another location.

"It's been transferred from one place [to another] and we caught up with it," Mabanta said.

Retired Army Major General Jovito Palparan, former 7th ID chief, claimed in 2006 that the NPA in Bulacan had abandoned its two fronts in the province after he fielded special operations teams in at least 40 barangays throughout the province.

The NPA unit in the area did not confirm if the cache belonged to it.