ANOTHER discovery of a depot of bomb-making materials and ammunition belonging to the communist New People’s Army came after a tip-off from a former NPA rebel, a military official said Saturday.
4th Infantry Division public affairs chief Major Rodulfo Cordero identified the former rebel as a certain “Alias Lee,” who had recently surrendered to the 23IB.
Cordero said the soldiers with the former rebel proceeded to the area and discovered 4 gallons with 85 packs of Ammonium Nitrate buried in the area of Barangay Maasin, Agusan del Sur.
On June 23, the 23IB soldiers also recovered 11 containers of ammonium nitrate, two blasting caps, 205 rounds of M-14 rifle ammunition, 5 magazines for M14 rifle, a roll of firing wire, NPA garments and shirts, and other pieces of evidence.
The discovery was a tip-off from villagers that led government troops to a depot of bomb-making materials and ammunition of the communist rebels, according to Cordero.
He added that the use of improvised explosive devices violates the provisions of the Ottawa Treaty, the Geneva Convention, and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).
Alias Lee said the containers of Ammonium Nitrate will be utilized by the members of the Sub-Regional Sentro de Grabidad SAGAY, Sub-Regional Committee 3, North Central Mindanao Regional Committee (NCMRC).
Lee said the seized containers are to generate more or less eighty-five (85) anti-personnel mines.
Meanwhile, 23IB civil military officer 1st Lieutenant Roel Maglalang said the four (4) gallons of Ammonium Nitrate were part of the deposits of the NPA rebels in the area.
“That posed a great danger to the lives and safety of local residents,” said Maglalang.
“IEDs will not only harm the government forces but also the innocent civilians that reside in communities where these explosives are stored and planted by the communist NPA rebels,” said Maglalang.
23IB commander Lt. Col. Julius Cesar C. Paulo condemned the NPA for putting the lives of civilians and farmers in Barangay Maasin in danger.
“Every day, our nearby villages are utilizing trails near the site where these explosives are hidden by the communist NPA terrorists,” Paulo said.
These terrorists put at risk the lives of our farmers and ordinary civilians by illegally producing and using prohibited anti-personnel mines, according to Paulo.
He added that the acts of the CNTs clearly manifest their complete disregard to the rights of the people living in the remote areas of Agusan del Sur.
“Aside from using IEDs, they were also regularly extorting money, manipulating and recruiting the populace and putting their lives in danger,” Paulo said.
Soldiers who retrieved the explosive materials said they observed that every day, farmers in Barangay Maasin and the nearby villages are utilizing trails near the site where these explosives are hidden by the CNTs.
“The seizure of the bomb-making materials in the area of Agusan del Sur is a clear manifestation that the local residents are already tired of the hostilities made by the NPA rebels,” Paulo said, adding that the efforts of the residents including the former rebels by providing positive information were laudable. (Ben Balce)
