FALLEN REBEL. New People’s Army (NPA) rebel leader Arnold Ornales lays dead on the ground after a clash with government troopers on the outskirts of Barobo, Surigao del Sur on Thursday (July 21, 2022). Ornales belonged to the remnants of the NPA’s dismantled Guerrilla Front 14. (Photo courtesy of the Philippine Army's 67th Infantry Battalion)
DAVAO CITY – Another ranking leader of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) was killed in an encounter with government troops in the Surigao del Sur town of Barobo, the military here said Friday.
Maj. Gen. Nolasco Mempin, commander of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, said Thursday's 20-minute gun battle with government troops in Barangay Guinahalinan, Barobo, resulted in the death of Arnold Ornales, a leader of the remnants of the NPA's dismantled Guerilla Front 14.
Mempin condoled with the family of Ornales as he called on other NPA rebels to surrender and return to their respective families while they still can.
“We know that there are still wounded NPA members after the firefight. You cannot forever hide. The masses are with us and sooner, they will pinpoint your location. So surrender now,” he said.
Meanwhile, Surigao del Sur Governor Alexander Pimentel has expressed support for the continuation of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.
Pimentel emphasized the importance of the social development packages, livelihood projects, and infrastructure that are enumerated under the Barangay Development Programs of villages that have been considered “cleared” of the influence of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the NPA.
“I say this with much severity, for I have personally witnessed how our barangay officials consulted with their constituents in the crafting of their development plans and have thoroughly identified their essential needs to attain a peaceful and progressive community,” he said.
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 inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973. (PNA)
