LUCENA CITY, Philippines – The spokesman of communist-led National Democratic Front in Rizal province disputed on Saturday a military claim to have seized a cache of firearms and ammunition belonging to New Peoples Army guerillas operating in Rizal and Laguna provinces.

“The firearms they claimed they discovered were old and unusable firearms rotting in the AFP armories which they use to bolster their propaganda that they are winning in their bid to destroy the NPA and the whole revolutionary movement,” Arman “Ka Arms” Guerrero, said in a statement sent to Inquirer Friday afternoon.

Last Wednesday, Lieutenant Frank Sayson, spokesman of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division based in Tanay, Rizal, reported the recovery of NPA firearms and war materials that included a Cal.-30 machine-gun in the village of Puray in Rodriguez, Rizal.

According to Sayson, a villager and an NPA tipster pointed the location of the armory to Army soldiers during a routine patrol.

He presented the firearms to the media who attended a press conference in Camp Nakar.

Guerrero claimed that the NPA rebels operating in Rizal do not maintain any armory.

“All firearms owned by the NPA, including the Caliber-30 machine-guns are in the hands of NPA regulars and people’s militia. The only firearms the AFP got were home-made shotguns they confiscated from the hapless farmers who use the said guns to hunt wild boars and other wild animals as food for their families,” he said.

Sought for comment, Sayson said the military has witnesses to attest to the veracity of their claim that the recovered armaments belonged to the NPA.

“It is a normal reaction for them to refute our report to turn the debacle into propaganda. They just can’t accept the truth that they lost a Cal-30 machine-gun because of their operational mishaps,” he told the Inquirer over the phone Saturday.

He said the media who attended the press conference and personally saw the recovered weapons and ammunition could prove that all items are serviceable.

“Any interested parties can visit the recovery site and investigate,” Sayson said.