TORCHED TRUCKS. The Police Regional Office in the Caraga Region condemns the communist New People’s Army (NPA) for its latest atrocities against civilians and properties in Butuan City. On Sunday evening (July 31, 2022), an undetermined number of NPA insurgents attack a compound of a construction firm and burned two trucks. (Photo courtesy of BCPO)
BUTUAN CITY – The communist New People’s Army (NPA) have become desperate enough to sow terror among the business community and the local residents here, according to the region's top police official on Tuesday.
In a statement, Brig. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr., chief of the Police Regional Office in Caraga (PRO-13), said the recent atrocities perpetrated by the rebels here will be met with criminal charges.
“Appropriate criminal charges are now being prepared by the Butuan City Police Office against the perpetrators,” Caramat said.
On Sunday evening, undetermined NPA insurgents forcibly entered the compound of Primevibe Corporation in Barangay Sumilihon.
The rebels disarmed the security guard on-duty, ransacked the staff house inside the compound, and torched one 10-wheeler truck and a six-wheeler truck owned by the company.
Caramat said the NPA rebels responsible for the atrocities belong to the NPA's Guerrilla Front 21-C of the North Eastern Mindanao Regional Committee.
The incident, he said, “showed the true face of the NPA of having no respect for human rights and a complete disregard for the properties of the people.”
“Through the unity of the police, the Army, and the communities, there is no way the NPA will succeed with their terroristic activities in the region,” he added.
Major Jennifer Ometer, PRO-13 public Information Office chief, said the NPA's recent attack has damaged around PHP500,000 worth of properties.
The Communist Party of the Philippines-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 was also 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)
