REST IN PEACE. The body of a suspected New People's Army member was laid to rest at the public cemetery in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental on Wednesday (Jan. 18, 2022). The rebel was killed in an encounter with government troops on Jan. 15, 2022 in Sitio Manlibod in Barangay Sandayao also in Guihulngan. (Photo courtesy of the Philippine Army)
DUMAGUETE CITY – The Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) and the local government unit (LGU) of Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental facilitated the burial of a Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) rebel killed in a recent encounter with government troops.
Arnold Suerte, alias Anton, was given a decent burial on Wednesday at the public cemetery in Barangay Hilaitan, Guihulngan City, a media release from the Philippine Army on Friday said.
Suerte’s body was recovered soon after a clash between soldiers of the 62nd Infantry Battalion and a group of armed men believed to be NPA rebels on January 15 in Sitio Manlibod, Barangay Sandayao of the said city.
He was a member of the Central Negros 1 front of the Komiteng Rehiyon Negros, Cebu, Bohol, and Siquijor (KRNCBS) of the NPA, the Philippine Army said.
Apart from the deceased, four other suspected NPA rebels, including two minors, were captured in that encounter. The wounded were brought to the local hospital for treatment.
“Halit kaayo ang mga rebelde tungod sa ilahang pamakak ug gihimong pagpang-ilad naguba nuon ang amoang pamilya (The rebels are evil as their lies and deception have destroyed our family),” Merabelle Julian Suerte, the widow of the deceased, was quoted as saying during the burial.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The National Democratic Front has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and separate part” of the CPP-NPA. (PNA)
