NPA on Rody’s war: We killed 12 cops, soldiers

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Central Negros claimed that the recent operations against government forces are the answer to the “all-out war” policy of President Duterte.

JB Regalado, in a statement posted on the NPA’s Leonardo Panaligan Command website, said that 12 policemen and military personnel were killed in month-long military operations in Negros Oriental.

Regalado cited the ambush conducted by guerrillas in Guihulngan City where six policemen and a civilian were killed while 17 firearms, more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition and four cellular phones were seized by the rebels.

He justified the ambush of policemen, stressing that they are legitimate targets of the NPA.

They also claimed responsibility for the killing of former Army Sgt. Ronnie Montejo in Canlaon City also in Negros Oriental last June 20.

On June 30, the rebels claimed to have killed four soldiers in Barangay Binubuhan, Guihulngan City, in an encounter with members of the Army’s 79th Infantry Battalion.

But officials of the 303rd Infantry Brigade dismissed the rebel claims as mere propaganda and a product of their fertile imagination.

The killing of the six policemen in Guihulngan City prompted President Duterte to order intensified operations against the NPA in Negros Island.