NPA Asked 2.2M for Permit to Campaign

From Catanduanes Tribune
Salamat Fernan sa dai ko pag paallam sa saimo. Pag abot ko na dian ang bayad.

Headline story:

NPA asked P2.2M from Congress bet
Laptop seized in clash
to yield rebels’ secrets

The Philippine Army expects the laptop, three USBs and compact discs seized in the Feb. 19 encounter in Maysuram, Caramoran to contain the secrets of the New People’s Army command in Catanduanes.

Lt. Col. Romeo Basco, commanding officer of the 83rd Infantry Battalion based in Lictin, San Andres, told the media last Friday that the computer equipment as well as subversive documents would contain the secrets of the Nerissa San Juan Command and that it would uncover the true face and character of the NPA in the island province.

“The recovered documents are being analyzed to extract the names of the personalities who provided extortion money to the bandit group,” Major Harold Cabunoc of the 9th Infantry Division told the Tribune in a separate report.

Also uncovered in the wake of the encounter was the alleged extortion attempt by the CPP-NPA-NDF against an aspiring lawmaker. “Based on the recovered documents taken from the combat pack of the dead rebel commander, I found out that the NPA bandits have demanded P2.2M from an aspiring Congressman as his PTC/PTW fees during this upcoming national and local elections,” Lt. Col. Basco said. He did not identify the candidate.

A comprehensive report that Basco submitted to Major General Ruperto Pabustan, commanding officer of the 9th Infantry Division, also revealed that the Nerissa San Juan Command was distributing color-coded Permit-to-CampaignPermit-to-Win (PTC/PTW) cards to politicians who are running for local posts in the island province.
According to Basco, based on the color-coding scheme, a blue PTC is for aspiring congressmen with a price tag of as high as P2 million. Yellow, green and red PTC cards for other elective positions were being sold for amounts ranging from P10,000.00 to P500,000.00depending on the position being sought. Around 500 PTC cards, most them signed by one Ka Apol and bearing serial numbers, were recovered during the Maysuram clash. An Army source told the Tribune that a notebook listing the cards and its politician-recipients, including those who have already paid for the cards, is in their possession and that about 200 PTCs have already been distributed by the NPA command.

The numbered PTC states that “the People’s Revolutionary Government (PRG) through the New People’s Army, allows the bearer to campaign within the PRG/NPA guerilla territories in accordance with the provisions stated at the back.”

The Army said the CPP-NPA-NDF’s rampant extortion activities targeting politicians this year was first documented after an encounter with the 49th Infantry Battalion in Bgy Ginangra, Magallanes, Sorsogon on January 10, 2010, which netted 7 high-powered firearms and voluminous documents stating the extortion demands on politicians who are running for local posts.

Meanwhile, one of the documents in the intelligence treasure trove taken from the Caramoran clash included a Jan. 22, 2010 letter to one “Ka Mando” from “STP/STR”, presumably a high-ranking CPP-NPA official.

The letter reminded the local NPA of the amount of the PTC decided upon by the “KTR” in August 2009. “Nais ko ring ipaalaala na dapat direktang sa pulitiko ang pakikipagsara ng usapan. Hindi dapat sa emissary o tagapamagitan lamang ang pag-uusap. Sa sona dapat ang usapan at hindi sa labas o siyudad. Ito ang mga patakaran na hindi puwedeng balewalain at dapat kilalanin ng pulitiko,” the letter stressed, adding that two NPA members should join the negotiations.

“Dapat diinan din ang matinding pakikipaggitgitan sa military upang mapahina ang lakas electoral natin sa mga sonang gerilya. Sa pamamagitan ng anti-milit at anti-pasistang kampanya ay dapat mabura ang pakikialam sa eleksyon ng AFP,” it added.

“Sa NP na pala ang alyansa natin para sa kandidatura pagkasenador,” the letter-writer informed, acknowledging the alliance forged by partylist Reps. Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza with the Nacionalista Party of Manny Villar. Ocampo and Maza visited Catanduanes last Feb. 3 to campaign with local NP leaders headed by Governor Joseph C. Cua and Araceli T. Wong.
“Nakapagpadala pala kayo ng lider masa ninyo sa Abaka sa Lakbayan ng Magsasaka ngayong Enero,” it said in closing, advising the local command to communicate via text messages as the courier system has yet to be reorganized by a certain Ka Anton.

Lt. Col. Basco told the media that he sent the 83rd IB platoon led by one Lt. Lebelo to Maysuram after receiving intelligence reports on the rebel band’s presence as well as complaints from residents who said the NPA were pestering abaca farmers to give food or buy rice for them.
The team reportedly found the NPA camp along a mountain ridge at sitio Tacad, with the more or less 15 guerillas resting amidst six tents. However, as they were closing in, one of the perimeter guards heard one soldier slip on the steep slope and fired four times before being gunned down. The rest of the rebels, including Catanduanes NPA leader Daniel “Ka Niel/Tabs” Frias, scampered down the mountainside to escape the hail of bullets from the government troops.
“We cannot discount that there were other casualties during the 25-minute firefight who may have been dragged away by their comrades down the ravines,” Lt. Col. Basco said, adding that the guerillas escaped only with their guns and the clothes they were wearing. There were no casualties among the government troops.

The slain guerilla was identified as Ka Lito, vice commander of the Sentro de Gravidad (SDG) of the Nerissa San Juan Command and reportedly a resident of Naga City. One of the biographical data sheets personally written by the rebels for submission to higher officials matched that of Ka Lito, who may have been 54 when he died. A cellphone recovered in his possession allegedly contained a text message from his wife who was asking for money as she was confined in a hospital due to a serious ailment. The notebook containing lists of money expended by the NPA unit, including an entry that indicated it has P763,100 as of April 5, 2009, was also found in his backpack. His body was buried in Caramoran, although the PNP is awaiting his family to claim his remains.

Recovered from the NPA temporary camp were: an Elisco M-16 rifle with serial number 131319, Colt M653 rifle with serial number 488856, a Fujitsu laptop computer, three USBs, several CDs, two ICOM handheld radios, an ICOM battery charger, medical and dental equipment including medicines, 182 rounds of M-16 ammo, 34 rounds of AK-47 ammo, five bandoliers, 14 AA batteries, 10 combat backpacks, voluminous subversive documents, 10 reams of Fortune cigarettes, six tents and 10 hammocks.

Only two of the backpacks have been inventoried, with the rest still in Caramoran. The documents also included a sketch of the Globe cellsite at Batong Paluway, San Andres, which the Army said indicated that the NPA was preparing to bomb the communications facility. The notebook containing the list of money received and spent also showed that the NPA got P1.1 million during a period from 2008 to 2009, with a certain Ka Arman, reportedly a barangay chairman, as the one who handled the cash. The recovered backpacks likewise contained personal effects of the rebels, including photos of the family of NPA commander Frias.
During the presscon last Saturday, 901st Brigade Commander Col. Magno Salazar called on the NPA rebels to go down the mountains and surrender for the sake of their families and for the peace and progress of Catanduanes.

“We will do everything for the rebels to return to the fold of the government,” he said. He likewise appealed to the people to vote for leaders who can persuade the communist guerillas to join and help the people attain security.

On the other hand, Catanduanes PNP provincial director Senior Supt. Rodegelio Gerero said the encounter proves the continuous criminal activity of the CPP-NPA. He said he has already declared a heightened alert in all police stations and units upon learning of the encounter. As to the possibility that the wounded guerillas may be treated by private doctors, he said the police cannot do anything about it.