By JEN BAYLON
The Philippine Army’s 79th Infantry Battalion (IB) has reported a significant weakening of the New People’s Army (NPA) forces in northern Negros.
This assessment comes following an encounter in Negros Occidental’s Cadiz City over the weekend, where two high-ranking NPA leaders were killed.
In a radio interview yesterday, 79IB public information officer 1st Lt. Dan Carlo Samoza said the recent encounter was a major blow to the NPA’s operations in Negros and the broader Visayas region, further weakening their capabilities and morale.
Samoza noted that the NPA took advantage of the upcoming midterm elections to extort funds from politicians seeking campaign permits.
The 79IB continues to urge remaining insurgents to surrender, offering assistance in reintegration and amnesty programs to help them reintegrate into mainstream society.
On Saturday, March 8, two regional leaders of the NPA died in an encounter with government troops in Cadiz City’s Barangay Caduha-an.
The 79IB identified the fatalities as Hans “Jojo” Ponteras, acting regional front secretary and finance officer of the Regional Taxation Implementing Group of the Komiteng Rehiyon-Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor; and former squad member Marissa Pobresa, who later became Ponteras’ primary staff and the unit’s regional communications officer.
The firefight, which lasted approximately eight minutes, forced the insurgents to retreat from the encounter site.
Ponteras and Pobresa’s bodies were abandoned by their comrades.
No casualties were reported on the government side.
Among the recovered items from the encounter site were one M16 rifle, one .45 caliber pistol, one hand grenade, one 40mm rifle grenade, five 40mm high explosives grenades, one short M16 magazine, two .45 caliber pistol magazines, a laptop, a backpack containing personal belongings, and subversive documents.
In a statement released yesterday, Brigadier General Michael Samson, acting commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, expressed his sadness over the loss of two lives during the encounter.
“Their deaths, caused by a false and misguided ideology, serve as a tragic reminder of the harm the communist insurgency inflicts on our people. It is heartbreaking to see another Negrense fall victim to these deceitful groups, and we acknowledge that each life lost is a failure to prevent them from choosing this violent path,” Samson said.
He also reiterated the Army’s commitment to ending the violence and ensuring the safety and peace of Negrense communities.
Samson urged those still waging armed struggle to abandon this selfish and violent way of life and reintegrate into society.
“We strongly urge the remaining members of communist-terrorist groups to rethink their actions and abandon this path of violence. The Army will continue its efforts to dismantle these terror groups and ensure that such senseless deaths do not continue,” Samson said.
“We are committed to safeguarding peace, but we cannot do this alone. We call on everyone to work together in rejecting the lies of these insurgents and helping bring an end to this cycle of death and destruction. We will not rest until every Negrense is free from the threat of terrorism and can live in a peaceful, prosperous Negros Island,” he added./JB, WDJ