MANILA, Philippines — The military’s Eastern Mindanao Command (EastMinCom) seized over the weekend a New People’s Army (NPA) arms cache, its location tipped off by former communist rebels, in South Cotabato.
Eastern Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Greg Almerol said on Sunday that troopers recovered on Saturday high-powered firearms and explosives stashed away by the NPA in Tampakan, South Cotabato.
Almerol said troopers from the 39th infantry battalion and the 10th K9 team of the 1002nd Infantry Brigade found a .50-caliber machine gun with ammunition, a shotgun, four grenades, and 40-millimeter grenade launcher ammunition at Sitio Bonglawaan, Barangay Palo 19, Tampakan town.
Former rebels who tipped off the military said the arms cache belonged to the NPA’s guerilla front Alip of the far South Mindanao region.