Phillipines: New Peoples Army statement - PNP Hit by Successive NPA Tactical Offensives

Spokesperson
Merardo Arce Command
Southern Mindanao Regional Operational Command
New People's Army
May 31, 2009
The Philippine National Police contingent in Compostela Valley Province again suffered a heavy blow after two successive New People's Army tactical offensives last week. Yet again, this showcases the tactical initiative held by the people's army against the intruding forces of the GRP armed forces and police units.
On May 26, 2009, Red fighters of the NPA's Rhyme Petalcorin Command of Guerilla Front 27 ambushed an enemy column composed of troops of the PNP 1102nd Provincial Mobile Group and Special Action Force and some Cafgu elements conducting patrol operations in Barangay Mainit, Nabunturan, Compostela Valley Province. Seven enemy combatants were killed in action. The 1001st Brigade-10th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army ordered an aerial bombing the following day, causing fear to farmers and their families.
On the evening of May 29, 2009, a platoon of the 3rd Pulang Bagani Company-NPA disarmed another 1102nd Provincial Mobile Group-PNP squad assigned as a security force of the APEX Mining Corporation in Barangay Masara, Maco, Comval. Swiftly seized were five high-powered rifles consisting of four (4) M16 armalites and one (1) M14 rifle after being surprised by the raiding NPA unit that entered the company compound. Since the target PNP unit did not make any armed resistance, they did not have any casualty.
The mining firm which is owned by the London-based Crew Minerals Corporation was punished for the continuing environmental destruction its operation has caused. One such devastation was the landslide in Barangay Masara last year that caused deaths and displacement in two barangays. Also, the 1102nd PMG-PNP in Comval forms part of the Investment Defense Force (IDF) -- the Arroyo regime's armed component that directly protects the interests of large mining companies and big agribusiness, and violates the inherent rights of poor peasants and lumads to their livelihood and ancestral lands.
In both combat operations initiated by squads and platoons of the Merardo Arce Command-NPA, the NPA did not have any casualty.
As the army battalions and special operations forces of the 10th ID-AFP go berserk in Southern Mindanao in a fascist rampage under the aegis of Oplan Bantay Laya 2, the people's army are ever ready to intensify tactical offensives in conjunction with an expanding and deepening mass base.
(Sgd) Rigoberto F. Sanchez
Merardo Arce Command
Southern Mindanao Regional Operations Command
New People's Army