ILOILO CITY – Some five New People's Army (NPA) rebels on Monday night burned 13 motorcycles parked around a kilometer away from the patrol base of the Citizen Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) in Igbaras, Iloilo.
Initial information from the 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) Public Affairs Office on Tuesday said the motorcycles were parked in front of a house of a civilian in Barangay Igcabugao, Igbaras town.
“The perpetrators were five CPP-NPA terrorists,” based on initial details provided by Capt. Kim L. Apitong, officer-in-charge of the 3ID Public Affairs Office.
He said the suspects held the owner of the house at gunpoint while they burned the motorcycles, whose owners are still unidentified, before fleeing.
“Units in the ground are now conducting pursuit operation, coordinated with PNP (Philippine National Police) and alerted adjacent Army patrol bases,” Apitong said.
“As per information those innocent civilians used their motorcycles to transport goods,” he added.
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) -NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The National Democratic Front (NDF) has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973. (PNA)