Folk near Hacienda Luisita fear reprisals from rebs

TARLAC CITY - Soldiers are securing a village in the outskirts of Hacienda Luisita from possible attacks by the New People's Army because the residents fear reprisals for the death of three rebels in an encounter last Thursday.

Lt. Col. Remegio de Vera, commander of the Army's 69th Infantry Battalion, said residents of Barangay Cut-cut 2 have sought "military presence" in their community, fearing that the rebels might harm them because they refused to pay "revolutionary taxes."

Last Thursday, about 10 NPA rebels, one of them a woman, attacked elements of the 69th IB, seriously wounding three soldiers.

Three rebels died in the 10-minute firefight. One was buried by his comrades in La Paz, Tarlac, while another was reportedly brought to Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija, De Vera said. The third slain rebel was buried east of the city's outskirts.

Soldiers recovered an M-16 rifle, a caliber .30 Carbine and three bloodstained backpacks containing subversive documents and personal belongings at the scene of the encounter.

A wounded rebel, identified as Leonardo Quiambao, 53, was left behind by his fleeing comrades. He is now confined at the hospital of the Army's Northern Luzon Command at Camp Gen. Servillano Aquino here.

Thursday's incident was the first time since the martial law regime that rebels operating in Tarlac dared to clash with soldiers in an urban village. Barangay Cut-cut 2 is just about five kilometers from the city proper and lies at the northern outskirts of the Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita.

De Vera, however, downplayed the incident, saying it was merely a "show of force" by the rebels who, he added, are "just trying to give the impression that they have (a large) mass base."

Meanwhile, the provincial board of Quirino passed a resolution asking Armed Forces chief Gen. Angelo Reyes to activate the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) in the province amid the growing presence of communist rebels.

The resolution, authored by board member Gerry Miguel, cited the need to revive the paramilitary group to beef up the Army's 45th Infantry Battalion deployed along the boundary of Quirino and Aurora.