An alleged ranking female official of the New People’s Army and three of her comrades were killed in an encounter with government forces at Hacienda Builder, Brgy. San Pablo, Manapla, Negros Occidental before dawn Thursday, September 30, Lt. Col. J-Jay Javines, 79th Infantry Battalion commander, said.
Killed were Marilyn Badayos, alias Monet, finance officer and former secretary of the Southeast Front; Ronilo Desabille, alias Wowie, propaganda and education officer; Rudy Carbajosa, alias Brod, finance logistics officer; and Rufino Bocaval, alias Simo, taxation and finance member, all North Negros Front remnants, the Army reported.
Badayos, who was also tagged as the current finance officer of the Northern Negros Front, was arrested in 2011 in Bacolod City for her alleged involvement in the killing of an Army Scout Ranger and was later released on bail. In 2016, she was again arrested in Negros Oriental based on a warrant of arrest issued for Criminal Case No. 15-101-B (Homicide) in the killing of Private First Class Marlon Lanes of the 79th Infantry Battalion in Bais City, Negros Oriental, the report added.
She was also linked to the killing of PO3 Joe Harry Peralta and PO1 Henry Pacheco and the wounding of three others during an ambush in Brgy Caningay, Candoni, Negros Occidental, on February 18, 2016, that was owned up by the NPA.
“Our Army, in collaboration with the PNP (Philippine National Police), have thwarted one of the major extortion groups of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People Army-Terrorist in Negros Island,” Maj. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, 3rd Infantry “Spearhead” Division commander, said.
The four slain rebels were the brains of the extortion schemes in the area, he said.
“They are also the ones planning for the extortion activities for the coming election….For years, they have been responsible for all extortion activities against big companies, construction firms, and private individuals. They used the extorted resources to fund their terroristic activities both in the countryside and urban areas,” Arevalo said.
The combined forces of the Army’s 79th Infantry Battalion and PNP’s 605th Regional Mobile Force and 64th Special Action Force were conducting Joint Enhanced Military and Police Operations (JEMPO) when they encountered more or less ten CPP-NPA terrorists (CNTs) at about 2 a.m. Thursday in Hacienda Builders, Javines said.
They launched the JEMPO after receiving reports from the local populace on extorting CNTs in the area.
The firefight ensued for about 30 minutes. After which, the enemy scampered towards Hacienda Mimi in Barangay Estado, Victorias City, he said.
Aside from the bodies of the slain rebels, seized from the encounter site were a .45 caliber pistol, 38 caliber revolver, two hand grenades, cellular phones, hard drives, extortion letters and subversive documents with high intelligence value, he added.
There were no casualties on the government side and the pursuit operation against the fleeing rebels is still ongoing.
Javines lauded the 79IB troops and PNP “for another outstanding joint effort against the communist terrorist in Northern Negros” and thanked the local residents for giving accurate and timely information which led to the success of the operation.
“This successful encounter has significantly shaken the weakening organization of the communist terrorist in Negros. It’s sad that more lives were lost, fighting for a senseless cause,” he said.
This could have been prevented if the rebels had heeded the call for them to surrender and return to the folds of the law, Javines said.
“Armed struggle is not the key, but a big hindrance for attaining peace and development. Let us work together to build communities that are inhospitable to enemies of the state, free from fear, manipulation and exploitation by the communist terrorists,” Javines added.
Arevalo said the death of the four rebels was a major setback to the rebel movement.
He urged the Negrenses to continue supporting the government’s peace campaign in ending the local communist armed conflict, not only in Negros but in the whole Western Visayas.*