GOVERNMENT troops recovered on Tuesday, seven high-powered firearms in Tago town, Surigao del Sur province, military officials said Thursday.
Army’s 4th Infantry Division public affairs chief Major Francisco Garello said the firearms were found by the soldiers from the 75th Infantry Battalion of the 401st Brigade in a remote village of Barangay Caras-an in Sitio Lagangan, on April 19, 2022.
The soldiers found the seized weapons while they were scouring the area for the presence of the rebels based on accounts of their informants.
“A tip-off from a concerned citizen led to this successful retrieval operation,” said Garello.
The firearms recovered purportedly used by New People’s Army (NPA) members were seven AK-47 Rifles and 17 pieces of magazines, he said.
Major Gen. Wilbur C. Mamawag, the commanding general of the 4th ID, commended his soldiers for having seized the firearms.
As the Commander of Joint Task Force Diamond, Mamawag said his desire is to eliminate the potential spoilers in the coming polls by making sure that the NPA rebels will not be in a position to harass and intimidate people in the countryside as the election draws near.
“We will continue to hunt them down and collect their firearms faster than they could hide,” Mamawag said. (Ben Balce)
