Rep. Aumentado warns: "NPA back in Bohol"

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines – Representative Erico Aumentado (2nd district, Bohol) yesterday warned barangay officials of Bohol that the New Peoples Army rebels are back from other provinces.

The congressman, during the provincial congress of the Bohol League of Barangays, urged the barangay chairmen to be vigilant, and maintain and foster peace and order in their respective turfs, considering the situation.

The return of the communist insurgents to Bohol, based on intelligence reports, has been detected due to the resurgence of activities of the NPA’s legal front movements here, said Aumentado.

He however did not name what these organizations working for insurgency were, and neither did he mentioned about the number or force of these rebels who have returned to Bohol nor the province is now under threat.

Aumentado only dared barangay officials to safeguard the gains of peace and development efforts during the time when the province has been declared ‘insurgency-free” by both the military and the police.

Just recently, the 5th Special Forces of the Philippine Army, led by Capt. Jason Glova, has also returned to Bohol “to ensure that insurgency will not return to the province.”

The soldiers have just completed their training in Samar, reports said.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines and former Defense Sec. Norberto Gonzales and police officials declared the province as insurgency-free before although insurgency-related activities, such as “extortion” or revolutionary tax imposition on business firms reportedly still continued here.

Aumentado was instrumental in making Bohol insurgency-free through a civilian-led counter-insurgency efforts “for his highly successful drive against poverty and insurgency,” earning him and the province several awards.

Two of these awards conferred on him were the Local Government Development Foundation and the Konrad Adenuer Stiftung of Germany for Bohol’s good performance in peace and development.