Sorsogon execs push local talks with NPA

People inspect a police outpost attacked by communist rebels in Gubat town, Sorsogon province, in October. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Officials in Gubat town in Sorsogon province have asked public support for a localized peace talks between the New People’s Army (NPA) and the government following the spate of killings and rebel attacks in the town.

Mayor Sharon Glipo Escoto, in a joint statement with Vice Mayor Sixto Estareja, called for a localized peace negotiation and ceasefire “to bring back the peace in our town, and to minimize the collateral damage brought about by this armed conflict.”

Escoto expressed alarm over the rising number of victims of summary executions blamed to rebel groups and the death of a policeman in a raid by NPA rebels since June.

She said peace in her town could only be achieved with the support of the public, the parties in conflict, the national government and agencies, and local institutions like the church.

Estareja cited the unresolved killings of Pedro Esperida, a village council member in Barangay Bentuco; and residents Alfredo Espedido, Jason Españo, Allan Nolasco, Edwin Pura and Wilfredo Broño; as well as the case of PO2 Dennis Garbida; and the recent attack on the Gubat police station.

On the night of Nov. 3, communist rebels, for several minutes, took control of the town center of Gubat when they attacked the local police station.

Positioned 50 meters away from the station, located inside the municipal government compound in Barangay Pinontingan, the rebels started the attack with burst of automatic gunfire at 9:26 p.m.

Senior Insp. Nicolas Malipot Jr., Gubat police chief, said the NPA rebels, clad in camouflage uniforms, were armed with M16 and M14 rifles.

Malipot said no one was hurt in the attack. The rebels, he said, fled on motorcycles.

Several witnesses, who asked not to be named for security reasons, said the rebels had positioned themselves along the road following the attack.

An engineer at a bunkhouse of workers in Barangay Panganiban, where steel bars for road construction are shaped and stocked, said before the rebels raided the police station, they took over the area and asked the workers to secure themselves.

He said tricycles were flagged down and were not allowed to move to protect them from gunfire.

On Oct. 15, the police outpost at the business center of Gubat town was also raided by NPA rebels aboard a van and a motorcycle. A policeman, Garbida, was killed in that attack.

Ten days later, Edwin Pura, 40, a member of the militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and a paralegal, was shot dead by two men inside a bar in this town. A waitress also died in that attack. —JUAN ESCANDOR JR.