Samar map
MANILA, Philippines — Days after government troops and suspected New People’s Army (NPA) members clashed off Buri Island in Samar, four more sets of human remains — two male, one female, and one whose sex has yet to be determined — were found floating in the waters off the municipalities of Tarangnan and Sto Niño, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said Saturday.
A resident reported having found the two male bodies in Barangay (village) Baras, Tarangnan, Samar on Friday.
Later that day, a set of human remains was found in Barangay San Vicente, Libacun Daku, in Tarangnan. The sex of the set of human remains has yet to be determined.
Also on Friday, local police reported the discovery of a woman’s corpse in the waters of Barangay Buenavista, in Sto. Niño, Samar.
On Thursday, a man’s corpse was found floating near the Islet of Libacun Gute in Tarangnan town.
On Tuesday, local fishermen found the wreckage of a motorized boat and the body of a woman off Tarangnan town.
The AFP said the found bodies also have injuries possibly caused by an explosion.
“Malaking posibilidad na nung magdetonate yung explosive components na dala nung mga suspected NPA terrorist ay upperbody nila ang napuruhan dahil karaniwang pataas ang trajectory ng blast,” Joint Task Force (JTF) Storm spokesperson Cpt Ryan Layug said.
(There is a big possibility that after the explosive components being transported by the suspected NPA terrorists, their upper bodies were hit as the usual trajectory of the blast is upwards.)
On Friday, Maj Gen Edgado De Leon, commander of the AFP’s Joint Task Force Storm conducted an aerial inspection of the area being covered by the search and retrieval operations.
“Hindi po talaga madaling mahanap ang mga cadavers kasi napadpad na ang mga ito sa ibat-ibang lugar dahil sa lakas ng alon,” De Leon said.
(It’s not easy to retrieve the cadavers because they went to different places because of the waves.)
Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) said that it will take some time to establish the identities of the found bodies as samples collected for DNA testing will need DNA matches from relatives.
The bodies, the AFP said, remain unclaimed by their relatives.
On Monday, soldiers clashed with a group of suspected NPA members who were aboard a motorized banca near Buri Island in Samar. The boat carrying the suspected NPA members exploded during the firefight, the AFP said.
De Leon previously said the AFP is still verifying if Benito Tiamzon and his wife Wilma — who are ranking leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the NPA — were among the passengers of the boat that exploded.