WHILE Philippine Air Force Super Tucanos dropped 250-pound bombs, Army troops used its newly acquired truck-mounted howitzers to pound an encampment of rebels busy preparing to celebrate the 55th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
Brig. General Michelle Anayron, commander of the Army 403rd Infantry Brigade said they have to use their newly acquired military assets to break through the mine-ridden rebel camp in Sitio Kiito, Barangay Can-ayan, Malaybalay City on Christmas Eve.
Anayron said the military offensive killed nine New People’s Army rebels but troops scouring the encampment found another male dead body yesterday.
He said this brought the number of rebels killed to ten with more than six high-powered firearms and other war materiel recovered at the ground zero in Sitio Kiito.
Communist Party of the Philippines spokesperson Marco Valbuena, in emails sent to reporters, did not confirm that the dead rebels were NPA members saying they are still verifying reports whether the encounter took place.
“As for now, we cannot say for sure whether those whom the AFP said were killed are really NPA fighters or civilian residents in the area. Tulad ng alam ninyo, marami nang pagkakataon sa nakaraan na maling ibinabalita ng AFP na nakapatay sila ng NPA sa engkwentro, para lang pagtakpan ang katotohanan na mga sibilyan ang kanilang pinatay,” Valbuena said.
The military operation took place three hours after the Communist Party declared a unilateral ceasefire on Christmas Eve and caught the rebels preparing for the 55th founding anniversary.
Anayron said they got information that the rebels have instructed villagers to cook food in anticipation of the visitors and supporters coming to witness the anniversary celebration.
“That was very vital information for us because we have been hunting for these rebel groups since December 1 after they burned several harvesting equipment,” Anayron said.
He said they used heat-penetrating drones from Lumbia Airport to triangulate the exact position of the rebels in Sitio Kiito and to avoid civilian casualties.
Anayron said so precise was their information that they fired the truck-mounted 155mm howitzers inside Camp Bahian in Malaybalay City toward their targets in Sitio Kiito, some ten kilometers away.
The impact of the Christmas Eve fighting on the prospects of future peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front remains uncertain.
On November 30, both parties agreed to resolve the decades-old conflict peaceably. Malacañang announced that both parties could reach a final peace agreement in the next few months.
Peace groups hailed the two-day truce that was supposed to end last night as a major step in building confidence for the peace talks to proceed and urged the government to reciprocate.
Major General Jose Maria Cuerpo II, commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division said they did not receive any orders from higher headquarters to reciprocate the ceasefire being implemented by the communist guerrillas.
“In the absence of orders, we attack,” Cuerpo said.
Cuerpo said he had given orders to run after the fleeing rebels in at least three villages in Malaybalay City.
