DAVAO CITY – Mayor Sara Z. Duterte condemned the attack perpetrated by the communist New People’s Army (NPA) on a remote village in Paquibato District here Wednesday afternoon.
“We condemn this attack as this happened at a time when we are supposed to be working together against the 2019 coronavirus disease (Covid-19),” Mayor Sara said of the attack on Sitio Kapihan, Barangay Malabog.
Capt. Erick Wynmer Calulot, civil-military operations officer of the Army's 1003rd Infantry Batallion (1003IB), said a firefight broke out when troops belonging to the 16th Infantry Battalion encountered an undetermined number of NPA fighters under Guerilla Front 55 in the area.
Two soldiers were slightly wounded during the encounter, Calulot said, adding that the communist guerillas had intended to disrupt the distribution of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) in the area.
The SAP financial aid is being distributed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to poor families to cushion the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mayor Sara said the attack "shamelessly exposed" the communist rebel movement "as the devil incarnate."
"The cowardly attack, which was carried out with the use of a bomb, only proved that the NPA, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), and the National Democratic Front (NDF) are truly the enemy of the people and the government,” she said.
Mayor Sara pointed out that the attack came despite the reciprocal ceasefire declared by the CPP-NPA-NDF on March 29, days after President Rodrigo Duterte declared a ceasefire with the NPA so that government forces could focus on helping health workers contain Covid-19.
“The terroristic attack came days after it (the NPA) announced, along with the CPP, that it was extending its self-declared ceasefire to April 30 — that we can only say now as a total sham. We can clearly expect nothing from the NPA terrorists — not even the slightest compassion for the people. It cannot even feign concern,” she said.
Mayor Sara accused the rebel group of only concerning itself with "death, destruction, and taking over the government."
“We call on the public to reject the NPA terrorists, work together and strongly resist its perverted political agenda, and drive them completely out of our communities,” the presidential daughter added.
The CPP-NPA-NDF is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. (PNA)
