50 skeletal remains from NPA execution exhumed in Davao

DAVAO CITY — Over 50 skeletal remains of people believed to have been summarily executed by the communist New People’s Army (NPA) were retrieved by the police in different areas at Barangay Sinoron, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.

Southern Mindanao regional police director Chief Superintendent Andres Caro II said the skeletal remains were victims of the NPA’s widespread internal purges aimed at ridding the ranks of suspected spies and informants.

Caro said thousands of rebels fell victim to “Kampayang Ahos” or “Kahos,” the bloody internal purges ordered by the Communist Party of Philippines (CPP) in the 1980s.

According to Caro, the NPA launched the internal purges under several campaign names, among them “Operation Cadena de Amor” for Luzon, “Operation Zombie” for the Bicol region, “Operation Olympia” for Visayas, “Oplan Missing Link” for Northeastern Mindanao as well as “Operation Takip Silim.”

“Thousands were brutally tortured, summarily executed and buried in shallow graves in various parts of the country as a result of those paranoid purges,” Caro said.

Caro said the remains, which were buried in shallow graves in at least four gravesites in Barangay Sinoron, will be flown to Manila for forensic analysis.

He said various government agencies, including the Davao del Sur provincial government and the local government of Sta. Cruz, and several non-government organizations have agreed to help in identifying the remains and document the gravesites.

Caro said the coordination among the different agencies and organizations involved was necessary to ensure the safe retrieval of the remains especially since the gravesite could only be reached by foot, four kilometers away from Sta. Cruz town proper.

Region XI is considered the hotbed of communist insurgents in this part of the country as it hosts the NPA’s Southern Mindanao Regional Committee (SMRC) and the Far South Mindanao Region (FSMR) of the Komisyon sa Mindanao (KOMMID) with 15 front committees (FCs) under them.

Caro said both the police and the military have implemented strict security measures on the expected retaliation from the NPA following the discovery of the gravesite.

“We know they would also counter our plan by their deploying its regular forces in the area to inflict casualties on government forces and even on sympathetic residents... But we have prepared for whatever action they would take,” Caro said.