RECOVERED. Some of the personal belongings left behind by New People's Army rebels who figured in a gun battle with government troops in Borongan City, Eastern Samar on Saturday (Jan. 6, 2024). A rebel leader was killed in the clash. (Photo courtesy of Philippine Army)
TACLOBAN CITY – A high-ranking leader of the New People’s Army (NPA) died in a clash between soldiers and rebels in an upland village of Borongan City in Eastern Samar on Saturday.
The Philippine Army identified the slain as Martin Colima (alias Moki), secretary of the sub-regional committee (SRC) Sesame of the NPA’s Eastern Visayas regional party committee.
The military said in a statement late Saturday that Colima died during a gun battle between soldiers and a band of 10 rebels around noon on Saturday in the vicinity of remote Barangay San Gabriel.
Lt. Col. Allan Tria, commander of the Army’s 78th Infantry Battalion, said troops were in the village in response to repeated reports of civilians regarding the presence of the NPA in the area, conducting extortion activities and finding chances to attack members of the Citizens Armed Force Geographical Unit and former rebels.
“Details of their locations, movements, and activities revealed by the civilians provided our patrolling troops a chance to track their location, which resulted in an encounter that killed Colima. Our soldiers also recovered one caliber. 45 pistol and seven backpacks in the encounter site,” Tria said.
Colima, according to the military, is the mastermind and one of the perpetrators of the ambush incident along a major highway in Libuton village, Borongan City on Dec. 13, 2019.
A policeman and three civilians were killed while 12 other civilians, including three minors, were wounded.
Brig. Gen. Noel Vestuir, commander of the Army’s 802nd Infantry Brigade, is saddened by the death of “another fellow Filipino” and urged Colima’s family and relatives to give him a decent burial.
“With the death of the top NPA leader in our area of responsibility, it is very imminent that their fighters under SRC Sesame will lose direction, be demoralized, and be incapable of protracted fighting for a lost cause and incorrect communist ideology,” Vestuir said.
The Philippine Army reiterated its call for the remaining members of the NPA to abandon the armed struggle and return peacefully to their communities.
The remote communities of Borongan City used to be one of the centers of NPA terrorist activities in Samar Island. (PNA)
