Sierra Madre guerrillas gearing up for bombings?

BAGUIO CITY — Communist guerrillas holedp in the Sierra Madre mountains in Cagayan Valley are spending much on explosive devices which authorities fear may portend heightened rebel attacks on government installations and communication lines.

Brig. Gen. Rodolfo Alvarado, commanding general of the Army’s 5th Infantry Division based in Isabela, said documents seized from three New People’s Army (NPA) camps which the military overran in recent weeks showed the rebels had purchased P100,000 worth of explosives from sources outside of Northern Luzon.

"This means they (NPA rebels) are in for something," he said.

The three seized rebel camps were located between San Mariano and Benito Soliven towns in Isabela. One of them served as the headquarters of the rebels’ Cagayan Valley Regional Party Committee.

The documents, Alvarado said, also showed that NPA fighters from Kalinga, Metro Manila and as far as Bicol had undergone training in the Sierra Madre in the past several months.

The rebels had spent P30,000 for training alone, one document showed, he said.

Two weeks ago, Alvarado said a large group of NPA guerrillas, mostly new recruits, were holed up in Cagayan Valley.

Although there have been no major encounters, a rebel sniper killed Lt. Camilo Viernes in Benito Soliven town last July 17.

Alvarado said the NPA’s Filomena Asuncion, Benito Tesoro and Rogelio Piñon fronts are feeling the heat of renewed military operations being directed by Col. Ericson Aurelio, commander of the Army’s 502nd Infantry Brigade.

Alvarado said military experts are decoding a brand new laptop computer which elements of the 41st Infantry Battalion found in Benito Soliven, along with subversive documents which fleeing rebels had left.