NPA rebels spring nine comrades from Batangas jail

BATANGAS CITY — New People’s Army (NPA) rebels, disguised as Army troops, freed nine detained left-wing activists, two of them women, Saturday in a daring raid of the Batangas provincial jail here.

Two of the NPA raiders are reportedly former inmates of the provincial jail.

Provincial jails are under the control of provincial governors, not the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

In Western Samar, NPA rebels ambushed and killed an Army lieutenant and three of his men, and wounded four others as they were traveling toward the combat zone.

Lt. Col. Glorvine Dida, Army 34th Infantry Division commander based in San Jorge, Samar said the soldiers were on a military vehicle in Barangay Caranas, San Jose de Buan when they were ambushed at around 10:15 a.m. yesterday.

Dida refused to identify the slain and wounded soldiers because of the military policy that the immediate kin should be the first to know about the death.

The wounded soldiers were taken to the Army regional headquarters at Camp Lucban Maulong in Catbalogan, Samar, along with bodies of their slain buddies, he added.

Military reinforcement from different units in Samar have been sent on a massive manhunt for the NPA rebels.

Batangas provincial jail warden Lutgardo Natanauan identified the escaped prisoners as Danilo Mayo, Ronnie Ferrer, Noel Uybad, Elison Agnes, Marilou Cataquiz, Lea Gaymay, Precy Balmes, Marian Vibat and Cristituto Galicia.

Tagged as communist rebels, the nine were arrested by Air Force security and policemen at the Batangas port last Nov. 7 as they were disembarking from a ship from Abra de Ilog in Mindoro.

Superintendent Nilo Anzo, Batangas City police chief, said at least 20 NPA rebels in black military fatigues arrived at the provincial jail in three vans, pretended to turn over arrested criminals in handcuffs and clad in orange detainee shirts to jail officials.

Once inside the jail, they disarmed and tied up five guards at gunpoint, then announced the jailbreak, he added.

Anzo said the provincial guards have identified two of the NPA raiders as Michael Cabrera and Azrel Polido.

The NPA raiders raised their rifles and shouted, "Who are theNPAs here?" and then used crowbars to break the padlocks on three cells, he added.

Records show Cabrera is facing charges of illegal possession of firearms before the Nasugbu, Batangas regional trial court, while Polido, alias Eulogio Castillo, has been charged with assault on an agent of a person in authority. Both have jumped bail.

Anzo said provincial guards recognized Cabrera and Polido as former inmates at the Batangas jail.

"O bakit nandito kayo (Why are you two here)?" Anzo quoted one of the provincial guards as asking Cabrera and Polido when he saw them at the jail on the day of the raid. "Nabalik na naman ba kayo (Have you been returned to jail)?"

During the 15-minute raid, four other inmates facing drug-related cases were also able to escape.

They were identified as Angelito Manalo, Guillermo Martinez, Victor Saruelas and Russel Reñoso.

Saruelas and Reñoso were recaptured in Barangay Cuta in Batangas City on Saturday night.

The jail guards on duty during the escape were Provincial Guards 1 Rosalio Alano, Florentino dela Vega Jr., Froderick Colico, Welson Catilo and Leo Rabano.

Without firing a shot, the NPA rebels hogtied and disarmed five provincial guards on duty, and ransacked the jail’s armory, taking a still undetermined number of firearms.

Natanauan said the NPA raiders were wearing Army uniforms when they arrived at the provincial jail aboard two vans equipped with blinkers and fake government license plates.

"They acted as if they were going to turn over four prisoners who were all wearing orange shirts and with handcuffs prompting the jailguards to open the main entrance gate," he told The STAR

When the gates were opened, the NPA rebels, armed with short and long firearms, immediately disarmed the five guards on duty, tied them up and took their six caliber .38 revolvers, a 9-mm. pistol and a shotgun, he added.

Meanwhile, Communist Party of the Philippines spokesman Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal, in an interview via cellphone with The STAR, congratulated the NPA’s Eduardo Dangle Command for their successful operation.

"This is proof that the NPA has remained strong, contrary to the military’s claims that our ranks have been decimated," he said. "As a result of this successful operation, the government should expect more similar offensives that the movement will launch."

Rosal said the NPA has to seize firearms and ammunitions for its growing number of recruits.

" It’s a part of our strategy to strengthen our ranks." he said in Filipino. "If our group can penetrate the heart of Batangas City, a progressive city, I believe we can also penetrate other similar places."

On Jan. 6, the NPA stormed the police station in Albuera, Leyte, seizing 30 assorted firearms without any resistance from the policemen on duty.

On Jan. 4, six NPA rebels shot dead a policeman and wounded a fire chief in Lian Batangas, just a week after a detachment commander of the Army’s 59th Infantry Battalion in Lian was killed.

Meanwhile, PNP chief Director General Arturo Lomibao ordered police yesterday to throw a dragnet around Batangas and the neighboring provinces of Laguna, Cavite, Quezon and Mindoro island.

Lomibao met with Armed Forces Southern Luzon command chief Lt. General Pedro Cabuay, Brig. Gen. Juanito Cabayao, Army 2nd Infantry Division officer in charge and Calabarzon police director Chief Superintendent Jesus Versoza to map out a strategy to combat the NPA attacks.

Lomibao also alerted the Coast Guard and the Navy to block any possible escape route of the NPA raiders and the escaped prisoners.

Four hours after the NPA raid, troops were able to recover firearms, landmines and subversive documents in Barangay Sucol, Balayan, Batangas.

Maj. Jose Broso, Solcom spokesman, in a statement said policeman and troops from Air Force based in Nasugbu and Fernando Air Base and the Air Force Intelligence Group in Batangas have launched a manhunt for the rebels. — Arnell Ozaeta, Ed Amoroso, Miriam Garcia Desacada, Cecille Suerte Felipe, James Mananghaya, AP