‘Bulacan clash affirms AFP raps vs Morong 43’

MANILA, Philippines - The recent clash in Bulacan that left three rebels dead affirmed the military’s claim that some members of the so-called “Morong 43” have ties with the New People’s Army (NPA), officials said yesterday.

The military has revealed that one of the insurgents killed in the encounter, a certain Ramon de la Cruz, was a member of the “Morong 43,” a group of suspected rebels who claimed to be health workers.

“It is only sad that they have to die first before people will believe that they truly are NPA members,” Army chief Lt. Gen. Noel Coballes said in a statement.

De la Cruz was killed in a clash in Doña Remedios Trinidad town in Bulacan last Aug. 8 but security officials validated his identity only last Thursday.

Maj. Gen. Hernando Iriberri, chief of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division, said the appearance of the slain rebel matched that of De la Cruz when he was arrested in 2010.

Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala, Armed Forces public affairs chief, said De la Cruz was a medic of the NPA’s Sangay Partido para sa Platoon which has been operating in Bulacan since 2006.  

Zagala said this was confirmed by rebel returnees and by De la Cruz himself when he and the other “Morong 43” members were arrested in Rizal in 2010.

In December 2010, President Aquino ordered the dropping of charges against the suspected rebels after the Justice department questioned the methods employed by their arresting officers.