Maj. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia, commander of the military’s Northern Luzon Command, said the joint police-military team, led by Lt. Crecensio Mugado of the 71st Infantry Battalion, was pursuing guerrillas who torched six cell sites of Globe Telecom, Smart Communications and Pilipino Telephone Corp. in Central and Northern Luzon last weekend, when they encountered the NPA band in Barangay Talabatab Norte, Gen. Natividad town.
The rebels, led by one Kumander Rico, reportedly belong to the NPA’s Komiteng Guerrilla Guchi. Government troopers seized four baby Armalite rifles, two M-16 rifles, an M203 rifle and a hand grenade after the encounter.
Chief Superintendent Reynaldo Berroya, Central Luzon police director, said the rebels were apparently on another mission to burn a Globe cell site in Gen. Natividad.
Last Sunday, the rebels torched a cell site in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, some eight kilometers from the scene of yesterday’s clash.
Garcia said four guerrillas, including Kumander Rico, were killed in the hour-long encounter. The wounded soldier, Army Sgt. Modesto Pablo, was pronounced out of danger.
Kumander Rico, he said, died due to loss of blood as he was being rushed to the hospital. But before he died, Berroya said he confessed that the NPA was, indeed, responsible for the burning of the cell site in Muñoz town.
Berroya said the NPA has been demanding an P8-million "revolutionary tax" monthly from telecommunication firms.
The rebels, Berroya said, launched the attacks to press the companies to give in to their demands and to display a "position of strength."
Last Monday, the NPA also set on fire the communication relay facilities of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Dole Philippines, Philippine Communications Inc. and Liberty Communications Inc. in Mawab, Compostela Valley. — With Benjie Villa