Head of Army battalion tells NPA rebels they won’t be arrested

New People’s Army guerrillas stand in formation in a guerrilla camp somewhere in the Sierra Madre mountain range after a clandestine press conference in November. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

DAVAO CITY—The head of an Army battalion that operates in areas with heavy rebel presence sought to give communist guerrillas assurance they would not be arrested if they decided to come out of hiding to celebrate the holidays with their families.

Lt. Col. Ronnie Babac said no member of the unit that he heads, the Army’s 73rd Infantry Battalion, would arrest any rebel who comes down from the hills to reunite with family for the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Babac’s statement came days after President Duterte urged New People’s Army guerrillas to come down from the hills and enjoy the holidays like normal people.

“Take the opportunity to enjoy the holidays,” said Babac, referring to a ceasefire between the government and NPA.

“This Yuletide season, we are asking our NPA brothers to take this chance of visiting their loved ones and feel the spirit of Christmas peacefully in their homes without fear of being arrested as our unit is in all-out support of ongoing peace talks and ceasefire,” said Babac, whose unit is based in Malita, Davao Occidental.

Babac’s unit has jurisdiction over Sarangani and Davao del Sur provinces, areas with heavy NPA presence.

Babac said NPA rebels also need not worry about military operations because “with the resumption of the peace talks, military activities such as combat operations have discontinued and priority efforts of the unit have shifted to peace and development efforts.”

The NPA has not responded to the invitation for rebels to come down from the hills.

But actions speak louder than words as communist guerrillas are suspected of being behind another attack on a bus plying South Cotabato and Koronadal City on Wednesday.

The bus, the fourth to be attacked in South Cotabato since Nov. 13, was torched past 7 p.m. on Wednesday as it was on its way to General Santos City from Cotabato City.

Quoting witnesses, Supt. Franklin Alvero, South Cotabato provincial police chief, said the Husky Bus was on the road in Tacurong City when a man boarded it. As the bus reached the village of Morales in Koronadal, the man told the driver to stop the bus.

At this point, six to eight men armed with handguns hopped into the bus and, at gunpoint, told the driver to alight.

A passenger told police that one of the suspects ordered all passengers to alight, too, as the bus would be burned.  —ALLAN NAWAL AND EDWIN FERNANDEZ