NPA belies military reports on Quezon clashes

LUCENA CITY –– The New People’s Army (NPA) operating in Quezon province strongly refuted the military reports on the series of encounters in the Bondoc Peninsula district last week.

“The reports by the 85th Infantry Battalion were all big lies,” Ka Cleo del Mundo, spokesperson of NPA’s Apolonio Mendoza Command, said in a statement sent to The Philippine Daily Inquirer Sunday.

Del Mundo particularly cited the news stories by the Inquirer on the encounters based on military reports.

Del Mundo claimed that only one encounter took place in Sitio (sub-village) Pung-uy in Barangay Masaya in Buenavista town early morning on Feb. 5.

She denied the military reports on the other clashes between the government forces and the communist guerrillas in Barangay San Roque in neighboring Catanauan town.

“Tinitiyak ng AMC-NPA na walang labanan na naganap sa pagitan ng NPA at sundalo sa mga oras, petsa, at lugar (San Roque) na sinasabi,” Del Mundo stressed.

(The AMC-NPA assures the public that no clashes occurred between the NPA and soldiers during the alleged time, date, and place.)

However, Catanauan Mayor Ramon Orfanel confirmed the veracity of the military reports on the San Roque encounters. But he said villagers did not evacuate from the firefight.

“It’s far (encounter site) from the populated areas of the barangay,” Orfanel said in a text message Monday morning.

When sought for comment, Army First Lieutenant Cecilio Gunhuran III, civil-military operations officer of the Army’s 85th Infantry Battalion retorted: “The NPA is again distorting the truth to hide their terrorist image.”

Gunhuran explained that Masaya in Buenavista and San Roque in Catanauan are only a few hundred meters away from each other.

“It’s running battles. And we’ve really hurt them bad even if we lost three of our brave soldiers,” the Army official said in a phone interview Sunday morning.

Army First Lt. Romeo Sabio Jr. and two other soldiers were killed in the Catanauan encounters. A military report said Sabio was allegedly shot and killed by an NPA sniper.

Del Mundo, however, did not refute the report that two of their comrades – Ronnel Batarlo, alias “Ka Marwin,” and another one identified as “Jade” and “Rosgel, both alleged NPA leaders – were also slain in the battles.

Del Mundo insinuated that Sabio was killed in a “misencounter” between government soldiers due to the heavy presence of government forces operating in the area.

“Misencounter sa hanay mismo ng nag-ooperasyong sundalo dahil napagkamalan nila ang kapwa nila na nakapanggap/nakabihis NPA na karaniwan nilang ginagawa para linlangin ang sibilyang populasyon,” Del Mundo claimed.

(It was a misencounter between soldiers because some of them masquerade/dress up like NPAs, which they usually do to dupe the civilian population.)

Captain Jayrald Ternio, head of the public affairs office of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division that covers Quezon, said the AMC was “only dreaming” when they refuted the military reports.

“These terrorists have mastered the art of deceitful propaganda,” he said in a text message.

The military alleged that the rebels also suffered an undetermined number of casualties in the Catanauan encounters.

Gunhuran scoffed at Del Mundo’s press releases and described them as “files of disinformation and fake news.”

“We all have copies of them. They were all deceitful statements. The NPA adheres to the dogma that a lie repeated a thousand times becomes truth,” he said.

The military also noted that Del Mundo did not refute nor even mention in the press release the report about an NPA guerrilla wounded in the Catanauan encounter, but was left behind by his fleeing comrades. The wounded rebel was eventually rescued and treated by Army soldiers.

“The truth is they were no longer welcome by the people in most villages they used to stay. They have to weave tales to dispel their terrorist image,” Gunhuran said.

LZB