In a statement, local NPA spokesman George Madlos later admitted responsibility for the raid. But local authorities suspect the involvement of an insider because the rebels knew where the firearms were kept.
It was the second major NPA attack in the region in a span of six days. Last Sunday, guerrillas carted away at least nine rifles and several ammunition in an attack on the town hall and police outpost in Carmen, Agusan del Norte. The raid left one person dead and two others wounded.
Chief Superintendent Alberto Rama Olario, Caraga police director, said the NPA rebels arrived on board three vehicles and entered PICOP’s Post 19 gate after holding two guards manning it at gunpoint.
Once inside the compound, the rebels tied up two CAFGU (Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit) members, a supply officer and a radio operator and disconnected communication lines.
The guerrillas then ransacked the armories of the paper company and the Mishem Security Agency, loading the high-powered firearms and ammunition in a six-wheeler truck and a jeepney. They fled aboard a waiting van.
Police said the NPA raiders were led by a certain Tata Jamboy, a son of a former PICOP worker.
An NPA blocking force reportedly fired at a vehicle they mistook to be carrying government reinforcements in an adjacent village. The ambush left three civilians wounded.
CAFGU members have been helping secure the PICOP compound under a memorandum of agreement the company had forged with the Army.
In a related development, a ranking NPA leader and an amazon were killed and several others were wounded during an encounter at the foot of Mt. Banahaw in Majayjay, Laguna the other day.
Maj. Gen. Efren Abu, commanding officer of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, identified the slain guerrillas as a certain Ka Lerie, believed to be a platoon leader of the Maria Lorena Barros Brigade of the NPA’s Melito Glor Command, and one Ka Beng.
The rebels, carrying their wounded comrades, fled toward the Quezon boundary.
A soldier, identified as S/Sgt. Carlos Palangdao, was also wounded in the firefight.
Found at the encounter site were four Armalite rifles, an M-14 rifle, two handgrenades, a radio transceiver and subversive documents. — With Roel Pareño, Rene Alviar and Mike Frialde