Gov’t forces now hunting down NPA unit that killed ex-rebel

By Jigger J. Jerusalem, Correspondent .

STATE forces are now hunting down a group of armed men identified as Maoist insurgents who killed a former member of the New People’s Army (NPA) in a far-flung barangay here, police said Thursday.

Shot to death was Saidor Balansi, 25, single, a resident of Barangay Besigan here early Tuesday evening.

Balansi’s brother Jan-Jan told investigators that a group of around 30 fully armed individuals belonging to the NPA’s Sub-Regional Command 5 led by alias “Decoy” was responsible for the victim’s death.

He said the group went to the victim’s residence and shot him there. He was found with multiple gunshot wounds on his body.

Maj. Aldren Baculio, Lumbia police chief, said Balansi’s brother was able to identify the attackers as their former comrades.

Baculio said the Balansi brothers joined the NPA in 2015 but they surrendered to the authorities two years later.

He said the siblings laid down their arms and pledged allegiance to the government at the Phil. Army’s 403rd Infantry Brigade detachment based in Barangay Mambuaya here.

After surrendering, Balansi went back to farming, he added.

“They were mostly being used as guide by the NPA, although Jan-Jan said they once joined in a combat operation in the hinterland area,” Baculio said, referring to the Balansi brothers’ involvement with the Maoist insurgents.

He added there were no sightings of NPA rebels in the city’s mountain villages prior to the shooting, although residents saw groups of armed individuals passing through their communities on their way to either Misamis Oriental or Bukidnon in the past.

Right after the shooting, the Lumbia police quickly coordinated with the Phil. Army’s 4th Infantry Division to track down the assailants, Baculio.

He said he received information from the military that the group who shot Balansi went to the direction of Talakag town in Bukidnon after the killing.