HILONGOS, Leyte — The local government here has asked the Philippine Army to establish a camp in upland San Antonio village to strengthen its campaign to weed out communist terrorists attempting to regain control of their former strongholds.
Hilongos municipal administrator Jose Villaflores said members of the local disaster risk reduction and management council convened on Monday to approve a resolution, which asks government troops to set up a camp in San Antonio village.
“San Antonio is known to be a place for rest and recreation of (the) New People’s Army (NPA) who move to other parts of the region to escape heightened military and police operations,” Villaflores said.
It was in San Antonio village where Virgelio Loquias suffered 12 gunshot wounds after he was shot at close range on August 15 by NPA members.
Loquias was the village chief of San Antonio. He was the second village leader in the same community to be killed by the rebels. The first was in the 1980s, according to Villaflores.
“The people there are not NPA sympathizers and that is why they killed them. Maybe in the 1980s, residents were scared of the NPA, but not now. That is why rebels resort to violence to regain control of these areas,” Villaflores said.
Recently, there were sightings of armed rebels in four villages in Hilongos — San Antonio, Cacao, Utanan, and Marangog.
“There is a military detachment in Cacao, but we also want another detachment in San Antonio because rebels usually pass along this village because of its thick forest and poor accessibility,” Villaflores said.
San Antonio is a two-hour motorcycle ride from the town center and a 30-minute hike to the village situated near the boundary of Bontoc town in Southern Leyte province.
The decision to grant the request of Hilongos officials to establish another military detachment in their town needs the approval of top military officials, Philippine Army 78th Infantry Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Roberto Obaob said.
“We are hoping that this request will be granted because that area (San Antonio) is a mobility corridor of the rebels,” he added.
The rebels usually move to Hilongos, Inopacan, and Hindang towns when government troops conduct combat operations in the central part of Leyte province, Obaob said.
The NPA, which has been waging a five-decade armed struggle against the government, is considered as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines. (PNA)
