The Philippine Army’s 79th Infantry Battalion (IB) is urging communities in Negros Island to reject any form of extortion by the New People’s Army (NPA) to completely eliminate their illegal activity following the death of the rebels’ regional finance officer, Hans Pontreras.

While the neutralization of Ponteras weakened the financial backbone of the Komiteng Rehiyon-Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor (KR-NCBS), the Army said NPA remnants could still be capable of conducting extortion activities, particularly in northern Negros.

“We call for a united action. We urge business owners, local leaders and other communities to reject any form of NPA extortion and to report any suspicious activities to the authorities,” 79IB commander Lt. Colonel Arnel Calaoagan said in a statement yesterday.

He stressed that putting a stop to the extortion racket of the KR-NCBS is “a huge win for peace and security in the region.”

“Without funds and leaders, their operations crumble, and the communities they once terrorized can finally thrive without fear,” he added.

In an interview, 79IB civil-military operations officer 1Lt. Dan Carlo Samoza said the NPA is actually an organized crime group that uses their so-called ideology to deceive people.

“These are bandits that we are confronting and that while there are remnants, there is a possibility that extortion will continue,” he said.

Ponteras, 48 years old, who died in a clash with 79IB soldiers in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental on March 8, had served as the KR-NCBS acting regional front secretary and finance officer of the unit’s Regional Taxation Implementing Group.

According to the 79IB, he was the author and signatory of extortion letters and death notes distributed under the codename “Armando Magbanua” of the Apolinario Gatmaitan Command, the main NPA unit operating in Negros Island.

However, intelligence operations and testimonies from former rebels revealed that “Armando Magbanua” is not a single person but a pseudonym systematically used by the finance officer of the KR-NCBS for extortion activities.

Such practice served a dual purpose — to maintain secrecy and to instill a continuous sense of threat, regardless of who occupied the role, the 79IB said.

In February, 79IB soldiers recovered extortion letters addressed to some sugar planters and businessmen after a clash with NPA remnants also in the hinterlands of Cadiz City. (PNA)