By JUANITO MAGBANUA
Apolinario “Boy” Gatmaitan Command
Twenty-one tactical offensives were successfully coordinated by the different Guerrila Fronts in the island of Negros under the Apolinario “Boy” Gatmaitan Command of the New People’s Army, in just 31 days from 5 June until 6 July 2011. The most coordinated was the 12 June strike that has an attritive and annihilative nature, punishment of military intelligence assets, criminal elements, ambushes, sniping, harassments and punishment of the destructive foreign mining firms as demanded by the people.
Six high powered rifles (HPRs) and short arms, ammunitions, and other military hardware were collected by the New People’s Army. There’s a total of seven killed in action (KIAs) and 15 wounded in action (WIAs) on the part of the Philippine Army and the Regional Mobile Group of the Philippine National Police, and three notorious military intelligence assets and criminal elements were punished.
The following is the list of the NPA tactical offensives:
July 6 – Operatives of the NPA under the Southwest Front, Armando Sumayang Jr Command raided the compound of the Philex Mining Corp and razed the bunkhouse of Drill Corp (contractor of Philex) in Barangay (village) Nabulao, Sipalay City. The NPA helped the occupants of the bunkhouse in taking out their personal belongings, animals before burning the bunkhouse, two heavy equipments, generator, one Nissan Pathfinder and other equipments.
The security guards were disarmed of one Mossberg shotgun with 21 bullets, two 9mm pistols with 19 bullets, and three radio handsets with 2 chargers, one metal detector, one .357 caliber revolver with 4 live ammos, and other mining equipments. Eleven cellular telephones of civilians were also taken but will be returned to the owners in the days to come.
July 3 – A sniping operation was carried out by a team of the NPA under the Leonardo Panaligan Command in Central Negros against an operating unit of the 11th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army resting in a hut. The soldiers were gambling “Tong its” (card game) in Sitio (sub-village) Lag-asan, Barangay Tacpao, Guihulngan City. This resulted to three KIAs and six WIAs, including a certain Roy Salvador (11th IB). A military chopper hurriedly took the casualties to Cebu Military Hospital.
The total opposite are the reported lies of the frustrated scriptwriter and director Col Jonas Sumagaysay who claimed that three NPAs were killed and four wounded.
June 19 – A unit of the Armando Sumayang Jr Command punished Ramil “Rigor” Escora of Brgy Tuyom Cauayan. Escora was on the act of unpinnig a grenade when he learned that he will be arrested. Escora was a notorious military intelligence asset and former member of the bandit group RPA involved in a syndicate for goons and guns-for-hire. He has several cases of murder, hold-ups, manhandling and threats. An apple type grenade, two live ammos for shot gun, one Nokia cellfone and wallet with intelligence documents was taken from him.
June 18 – An NPA unit under the Rachelle Mae Palang Command encountered a unit of the 79th Infantry Battalion in Pamplona, Negros Oriental. There was no casualty on the side of the NPA as maliciosly claimed by Col Jonas Sumagaysay.
June 12 – Several units of the NPA under the Leonardo Panaligan Command simultaneously harassed the military detachments in Barangay T. Hill in Villegas, headquarters of the Bravo Company, 11th Infantry Battalion, in Barangay Buenavista, Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental and in Barangay Libas, Isabela, Negros Occidental.
The troopers of the Regional Mobile Group (RMG) based in Barangay Libertad was operating when a unit of the NPA decided to take the opportunity and executed a fire and maneuver ambush that resulted to four KIAs on the enemy with five WIAs.
On this day, the NPA also conducted checkpoints in Barangays Bulado, Mani-ak, Buenavista and Hilaitan, in the town of Guihulngan, Negros Oriental, and in Barangay Mabini, Escalante City, in Barangay Talamnan San Jose, Toboso, and in Barangay Malatas, Calatrava, Negros Occidental.
June 11 – Escalante City. The Roselyn Pelle Command thru a partisan operation punished Eric Matugas, a notorious civilian intelligence asset of the RMG, ex-RPA and was the brains behind a series of hold-ups, and was a partner of Renante Canete who was punished before.
June 8 and 9 – NPA units under the Roselyn Pelle Command harassed troopers of the 62nd Infantry Battalion in Sitio Calapi and Sitio Tul-angon, in Barangay Tabun-ac, Toboso. There was no casualty among the NPA while two troopers of the 62nd IB were killed and three wounded in the encounter.
June 5 – The Armando Sumayang Command implemented the order of the Revolutionary People’s Court in punishing Titing Pase, another notorious intelligence asset of the Philippine Army involved in the murders of “scrappers” in Maricalum Mining Corp, including three innocent children they dropped in the Sinking Pond of the mines.
These various tactical offenives of the NPA were carried out successfully because of the unending support of the oppressed and exploited masses victimized by the fascist mercenary troops of the Philippine Army and victims of the monopoly capitalists mines that have landgrabbed, destroyed the environment and health of the people.
These coordinated tactical offensives of the NPA signifies the strength and solidity of the NPA in Negros and the whole country. Again this is in complete opposite on the claims and nightmares of Jonas Sumagaysay.
To all Negrosanons, don’t be fooled by the “sweet” words and sharp tongue of provincial governor Maranon who is behind the mining operations in the mountains of Sagay and the shorelines of Sagay and Cadiz, that has already dislocated the peasants and fishermen. He’s also behind the systematic displacement of more than 8,000 people in Northern Negros Forest Reserve who will be replaced by imported cattle. These are just a few of the reasons of Maranon’s request for additional troops of the mercenary Philippine Army and Philippine National Police in Negros. Surely this is for the protection of their economic and political interest in Negros.
Whatever national security operation plans the reactionary government is implementing against the revolutionary movement, the Public-Private Partnership Program of the US-Aquino Regime, or the Negros First Policy of Maranon will surely be a failure. Even the Oplan Bayanihan of the Armed Forces of the Philippines that terrorizes the people will not hinder the advance of the people’s war in Negros.
In actuality this will ignite the anger and rage of the people against the system. For as long as there are peasants, workers and fishermen who are losing their livelihood and their dignity to life taken away by this rotten system, the armed struggle will continue along the line of the national democratic revolution.