By Froilan Gallardo
Special Correspondent
REBEL leader Jorge Madlos aka ‘Ka Oris’ frequented this city to seek medical treatment in the months before he was allegedly slain in an encounter with government troops last weekend.
Armed Forces Eastmincom commander Lt. Gen. Greg Almerol said Madlos traveled to Cagayan de Oro from Cebu before going to Bukidnon province where a massive military operation finally caught up with him.
“Here in Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon, the (New People’s Army) has a network of supporters who are doctors and nurses who can attend to Madlos,” Almerol said.
Almerol said Madlos, 72, who hails from Dapa, Surigao del Norte, has been suffering from kidney failure and have to use a colostomy bag.
He said the slain rebel used to come down to Cagayan de Oro for his dialysis treatment.
A source here in Cagayan de Oro said he used to administer intravenous medication to Madlos until it stopped more than a year ago.
The source said he once accompanied the rebel leader to a hospital in Cagayan de Oro where blood samples were taken.
“Madlos did not alight from the vehicle. He had his blood sample taken right inside the vehicle by a sympathetic nurse,” he narrated.
4th Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said there was no doubt that Madlos enjoyed a network of doctors and nurses in Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon who were either his friends or sympathizers.
He said Madlos graduated from the state-owned Central Mindanao University in Musuan, Bukidnon.
Brawner said the first time they had proof that Madlos was in Bukidnon was when they found a colostomy bag among the firearms and belongings left behind by the Maoist guerrillas after the clash in Sitio Cogon, Barangay Manalog, Malaybalay City last Sept 21.
“We also interviewed several residents who saw the rebels carrying a man on a chair as they withdrew,” he said.
After that, Brawner said the hunt against Madlos had been launched in Bukidnon.
