Winning the all-out war vs the communists!

It goes without saying that we in Cebu expect a terror attack, which was the headline story of The Philippine STAR last Wednesday. As pundits say, it’s not a matter of whether it would happen, but when it would happen and one big fat juicy target is the still being constructed Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) or any place in Metro Cebu where the 12th ASEAN Leaders’ Summit would be held. The best we can do aside from putting more policemen in almost every corner is to pray for the protection of Cebu.

But while vigilantes still roam freely without any fear of getting caught, they have only caused embarrassment to the policemen assigned to their respective corners because vigilante killings continue almost daily in Metro Cebu. However, not all our policemen are hopeless.

Last Sunday afternoon, SPO1 Meliton Agadier, a 44-year-old off-duty intelligence officer from the Carcar police station (40 kilometers south of Cebu City) was driving his vehicle near Zulueta street in downtown Cebu and he noticed that a robbery was in progress in the jeepney just in front of his vehicle. SPO1 Agadier then sneaked behind the jeepney as it stopped and collared Romulo Ligan who threw away the knife he had used to threaten a passenger, but then, his companion, Gerry Bayno, lunged at the policeman with a kitchen knife and was shot in the process. Bayno died later at the Cebu Medical Center, while Ligan admitted that he came from the Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa and the Iwahig Penal Colony where he spent 15 years and nine months for robbery. Why these convicts were released, I really don’t know.

Because of his quick and cool response to that jeepney heist, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña will reward SPO1 Agadier’s act beyond the call of duty with P20,000 and if he likes to transfer to Cebu City, the mayor will also work this out, as Cebu City needs the services of this very able policeman, whose eyes are ever alert even if he is off-duty. Hopefully, other cops would follow his example of what a good cop should do even during his off-hours.

Because of the publicity on the incident, we also learned that way back in 2002, SPO1 Agadier was awarded as an exemplary policeman of the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CCPO) for also responding to a snatching case in Mambaling, Cebu City where he also arrested the snatcher. At this point, we can only wish that all the policemen assigned to Metro Cebu today would sharpen their eyes and be more watchful of criminal elements. This is the only way we can prevent a terror act before it can happen.

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Meanwhile, in the all-out war in Cebu province, the big news is that Luciano Puro, a.k.a. Mendo, a vice platoon commander of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (CPP/NPA) operating in the Tuburan, Asturias, Danao City area, surrendered to the 78th Infantry Battalion headed by Lt. Dugho and to Catmon Mayor Estrella Aribal last Tuesday. Puro apparently got tired of fighting in the hills of northern Cebu and gave himself up so he could openly meet his live-in partner and to raise their children like everyone else.

Of course, the problem with NPAs who return to the fold of the law is that their lives are now in danger... because surely, no less than CPP chief Jose Maria "Joma" Sison would sign his death warrant for treason to the cause of communism! In surrendering to authorities, Puro confessed that it was his group that attacked and raided the 78th IB detachment in Sumon, Tuburan almost exactly a year ago on Oct. 15, 2005. That raid cost the lives of Sgt. Rolando Luna, Pfc. Joseph Bingil and Cpl. Bobby Lecono.

Of course, Puro admitted that he was hesitant to lead that operation, but he feared for his life if he refused. Just before surrendering, he, too, feared that the military would kill him in retaliation for leading that raid. But apparently, there was no vengeance on the part of the soldiers in Cebu.

No doubt, Puro’s surrender is a big blow to the communist insurgency in that most rebel-infested part of Cebu province. I hope this will not be the last we will hear of Puro, as we are very interested to know who among the businessmen paid them their "revolutionary taxes." What I’m very interested in is whether taxpayers’ money given to those communist front organizations by the members of Congress also trickled in to the NPA. I hope that the military intelligence will finally be able to validate this story.

For sure, since Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia declared all-out war against the communist insurgency in Cebu, which was echoed no less than by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA), the province of Cebu is winning this war without firing a single shot! A few months ago, two NPAs were arrested in Talisay City in a sting operation... they thought that the cops were the representatives of a big business concern from which they were demanding "revolutionary taxes." Now we have an NPA leader in the north who surrendered to the military.

Luciano Puro’s surrender came as a "day early" gift for Gov. Garcia who celebrated her birthday yesterday with no less than President Arroyo who came not only to celebrate her birthday, but also to attend the signing of the memoranda of agreement (MOA) for the rural electrification of Cebu.

I didn’t get to see the President’s itinerary, but I heard that she was supposed to also cut the ribbon for the new Danao City bus terminal and formally bless the opening of a 30-kilometer stretch in the southwestern seaboard of Cebu province, which had never tasted asphalt before and now, Cebuanos can travel "round South" from Carcar and back to Carcar, passing through Santander, Ginatilan, and Moalboal.

I hope we can ride our big bikes this Sunday because the last time I made a trip "round South" was on a dirt bike because that was the only bike to ride those ugly roads. Gov. Garcia’s promised that she’d fix that road (actually, records in Congress show that this stretch had been asphalted many times over, but the money was released and the asphalt never tasted the road.) and she did! Now Cebu’s first woman governor has done what the male governors never did... and that include all the congressmen in that area! Mind you, this is a national road that was fixed using the funds of the provincial government!

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns in The Freeman can also be accessed through The Philippine STAR website (www.philstar.com). He also hosts a weekly talkshow, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable. Bobit’s columns can also be accessed at www.shootinginsidecebu.blogspot.com.