AT least 700 TNT tubes and other explosive materials owned by the communist New People’s Army were seized by government troops in Labo town in Camarines Sur on Monday, the military reported yesterday.
Troops from the Army’s 96th Infantry Battalion and the Camarines Norte provincial police office found the explosives at around 12:30 p.m in Barangay Malibago, based on information provided by “concerned citizens.”
“Residents reported the hidden explosives and NPA materials. They were accompanied by soldiers and policemen who recovered the explosives,” said Capt. John Paul Belleza, spokesman of the Army’s 9th Infantry Division based in Camarines Sur.
Recovered at the area were 761 TNT tubes, 400 meters of detonating cords, and “several materials used by the CTG (communist terrorist group) for their propaganda dissemination,” said Belleza.
Maj. Gen. Henry Robinson, 9th ID commander, said the military would have not recovered the explosives, which are used to manufacture anti-personnel mines, from the NPA if not for the information from the residents.
This is the second huge setback suffered by the NPA since Saturday when government troops seized 10 rifles and 85 boxes of ammunition in Bulan town in Sorsogon, also based in information from “concerned citizens.”
Robinson appealed to the “peace-loving Bicolanos” to continue assisting the military in the fight against the NPA.
“Let us fight insurgency together and help those victims of NPA atrocities in the dispensation of justice,” said Robinson, adding the military is not depriving NPA rebels the chance to surrender and “peacefully live with their loved ones.”
