16 explosives found in abandoned NPA lair in South Cotabato
COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Soldiers recovered 16 large homemade explosives in Barangay Maan, T’boli, South Cotabato, on Wednesday, August 20.
The devices, which could be used as landmines or remotely detonated through mobile phones, were found in an abandoned New People’s Army (NPA) hideout.
Maj. Gen. Donald Gumiran, commander of the 6th Infantry Division, said ethnic T’boli farmers tipped off troops about the exact location of the explosives. Soldiers from the 105th Infantry Battalion, accompanied by tribesmen, recovered the devices in Sitio Bagong Silang.
Brig. Gen. Michael Santos, commander of the 603rd Infantry Brigade, said similar bombs were seized in past operations led by Lt. Col. Erikzen Dacoco in the last six weeks.
Santos added that residents are now actively helping the military “weed out the few remaining NPA members who are, for them, nothing but terrorists.”
In the past two years, the 603rd Brigade and the 6th ID have secured the surrender of 369 rebels in South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat through backchannel talks.
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