A BOAT carrying at least 10 alleged New People’s Army (NPA) rebels exploded during a firefight with government troops off Catbalogan City in Samar yesterday.
There were unconfirmed reports that top communist leaders Benito Tiamzon and his wife, Wilma, were among those aboard the boat but a military commander could not immediately validate the information.
Maj. Gen. Edgardo de Leon, commander of the Army’s 8th Infantry Division, said the troops were not able to account any of the 10 communist rebels during clearing operations.
Prior to the encounter, De Leon said, an informant reported that a group of rebels were leaving the city on board a boat amid relentless counter-insurgency operations in the province. The rebels also loaded boxes which the military suspected contained explosives.
At around 4:20 a.m., De Leon said, Army Special Forces soldiers aboard boats and equipped with night vision goggles tried to interdict the boat which was then headed towards Buri Island, also in Catbalogan City.
He said soldiers, using a megaphone, ordered the rebels to stop. “Instead of stopping, they (rebels) opened fire on the troops. With that, they (soldiers) retaliated, then suddenly the boat exploded,” said De Leon.
De Leon said soldiers may have hit the explosives the rebels loaded on the boat. It was also possible the explosion was caused by rifle grenades fired by the troops, he said.
“Unfortunately, we only found debris (in the area),” said De Leon, adding that troops continue to search the area. He said he even dispatched military aircraft to help in the search.
Asked if there are indications the 10 rebels died, De Leon said: “That is what we are trying to determine because we only found debris. We cannot ascertain that yet.”
There were reports that the Tiamzon couple, who have a string of cases pending in court, was aboard the boat.
Benito and Wilma, the CPP-NPA chairman and secretary general, respectively, were arrested by government troops in 2014 in Cebu but were released from police custody two years later to pave the way for the resumption of peace negotiations between the communist movement and the government. The two did not return to government custody after the peace talks bogged down.
De Leon said there are indicators the Tiamzons were in the Samar area but no specific information from their informant if the two were aboard the NPA boat that the troops pursued.
Among the indicators, he said, was the recent arrest of two CPP Central Committee members in the province.
“Those are the incidents that served as indicators that the national leadership (of the communist movement) is here in Samar, not only them (Tiamzon couple) but the entire national leadership. They (the Tiamzons) are part of the national leadership so they are among those we suspect who are here in Samar. That’s why our operations are relentless,” said De Leon.