Governor asks Army to guard N. Cotabato villages vs NPA

KIDAPAWAN CITY — North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Mendoza has asked the military to deploy troops and set up detachments in areas that communist rebels use to enter and leave the province.

Mendoza said among these were the villages of Pangao-an, Binay and Tagbac in Magpet town. Magpet is in the province’s borders with Davao del Sur and Bukidnon provinces, where the New People’s Army (NPA) operates.

It was in Tagbac village that “lumad” leader Antonio Takinan was ambushed on April 4 and where NPA rebels set off an explosive as a military truck was passing by on April 10.

“These areas are entry and exit points of armed men and there was no presence of the military [there],” Mendoza said.

She said the absence of soldiers in these villages had left village officials in fear. —Edwin Fernandez