By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon, Jr. said the New People’s Army (NPA) claiming responsibility for the recent ambush in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, which claimed the lives of seven people, was “expected.”
“They were the ones that committed the ambush, even if they did not [publicly] admit it,” he stated.
According to Marañon, NPA members should give up, saying their leader, Jose Maria Sison, is enriching himself overseas while leaving his supporters on their own.
“Sison is living peacefully, while his comrades are enduring hardships in the mountains and are constantly being chased down by government forces,” he said.
Earlier, the NPA Leonardo Panaligan Command officially claimed responsibility for the deadly July 21 ambush in Barangay Magsaysay, Guihulngan City, calling it “payback for atrocities committed by the Guihulngan City police.”
Spokesperson Ka JB Regalado accused law enforcement of human rights abuses and went on to describe them as “corrupt.”/WDJ