Explosives, guns seized in Aurora NPA camp

Government forces seized two sacks of explosives, several firearms and documents purportedly showing plans to launch bombings and other terrorist acts from a New People’s Army (NPA) training camp in San Luis, Aurora, the military said yesterday.

The military said the explosives seized from the NPA camp in Barangay Dimanayat were enough to blow up two buildings.

Col. Joselito Kakilala, chief of the Army’s 48th Infantry Battalion whose men overran the NPA camp, said the documents bore the names of "Satur, BM, AP and AB."

Military officials, however, refused to say if "Satur" refers to Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo.

Sought for comment, Ocampo said the military’s claim that a certain Satur is out to launch bombings is intended to scare away people from joining street rallies.

"It is a scare tactic of the administration," he said.

Ocampo also described the accusation as "malicious" since "Satur" was clearly an allusion to him.

"I am definitely not the person. If they have evidence against me or the man they call ‘Ka Satur,’ then they should arrest me or him," he said.

Ocampo is a former communist leader who had given up armed confrontation in favor of parliamentary struggle. Friends call him "Ka Satur."

He said the letters revealed by the military and purportedly coming from the NPA were spurious.

"Reporters who have closely covered the NPA should be able to note the spurious nature of the Nolcom (Northern Luzon Command) letters. So much unlike the NPA’s careful use of pseudonyms, the Nolcom letters contained both pseudonyms and real names," he said.

"Why would the Nolcom letters contain my name, Ka Satur, when it is standard NPA procedure not to divulge real names in communications?" he added.

Lt. Gen. Samuel Bagasin, Armed Forces deputy chief of staff, said the NPA has been receiving financial support from certain personalities and organizations.

Bagasin said the military is now validating the seized documents to identify the individuals named and bring them to court.

The military presented the explosives confiscated from the NPA camp to the media yesterday amid reports that NPA guerrillas would infiltrate mass actions of militant groups seeking the ouster of President Arroyo.