Article by:
Sarwell Meniano
TACLOBAN CITY – The Philippine Army condemned the communist terrorist group New People’s Army (NPA) for attacking soldiers in Catubig, Northern Samar deployed to facilitate development in poor communities.
The Army’s 20th Infantry Battalion (20IB) spokesman 2nd Lt. Sarah Jane Escobio said in a statement on Wednesday that a soldier was wounded after NPA members attacked government troops conducting Community Support Program (CSP) in Nagoocan village of Catubig town around 10 a.m. on Tuesday.
Injured was Pfc. Gilbert Gabin who was hit on his right leg. He was immediately transported to Northern Samar Provincial Hospital for treatment.
Nagoocan is one of the six villages identified as 2021 recipients of the PHP20 million Support to Barangay Development Program (SBDP), a hallmark program of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) to bring progress to former conflict-prone communities.
“The NPA returned to this community to attempt to recover their lost mass base. We cannot allow the people to be deprived of government services because of the NPA's deceptive propaganda and blank promises" Escobio said.
Nagoocan village chief Fe Baldoza also condemned rebels for disrupting the development efforts of the government in their community.
“I don’t understand why the NPA have been attacking soldiers. Through the years, the military has been working with us to achieve lasting peace and development,” Baldoza said in a message sent to the 20IB.
On February 8, two minors died, and two others were wounded when the NPA ambushed patrolling soldiers in the remote village of Roxas, also in Catubig town,
The children were in the area to gather coconuts and converse with government troops before the NPAs indiscriminately fired on them.
Northern Samar is considered as the hotbed of the communist terrorist group due to its thick forest and poor road networks.
The high incidence of poverty makes people in upland communities vulnerable to the persuasion of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The Anti-Terrorism Council also formally designated the NDF as a terrorist organization on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA that was created in April 1973. (PNA)
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