"It was not just the gallantry of my men but also their valor in relentlessly pursuing the communist guerrillas in this part of the country that led to the capture of one of a major bomb-making factory and possibly the biggest arsenal of the rebels in Surigao del Sur," Army’s 36th Infantry Battalion commander Lt. Col. Joel Madarang told The STAR.
Madarang commends the valor of the soldiers under his command who did not mind the inclement weather and the danger they were facing with hundreds of landmines they had to hop away from as they inched their way closer to the two caves that was an important base of the communist rebels.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines scored a major victory over the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army when it captured Wednesday two caves in the remote town of Tagbina, Surigao del Sur believed to be used by the communist insurgents as bomb-making factory and at the same time a huge arsenal of their various ammunitions.
The major haul comprised of 42 gallons of superdyne dynamite sticks that could produce 250 pieces of an eight-kilogram Claymore landmine, while another 100 gallons of superdyne dynamite sticks also still have to be unearthed since these were buried in one of the two caves.
Also found inside the caves were M14 and M16 rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launcher, two mortar base plates, a B-40 anti-tank weapon base plate, a set or rifle ammunition reloading machine, M60 machine gun bullets, detonating wires and expanders as well as 13mm electric press drill machine.
Madarang recalled how his men have decided to cut short their Christmas break and instead decided to stake it out in the said Barangay Greenfields where the two caves were located, to continue with their effort since October last year to go after National Democratic Front (NDF) Mindanao spokesman Jorge Madlos, also known as Ka Oris, and his men.