DUMAGUETE CITY , Philippines– Philippine Army officials in Negros Oriental have disclosed an alleged plan by the New People’s Army (NPA) to liquidate one of its battalion commanders.Colonel Francisco Patrimonio, commander of the 302nd Infantry Brigade based in Tanjay City, Negros Oriental, confirmed receipt of verified reports of a plan purportedly by the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, to take out Lt. Col. Marion Sison, commander of the 79th Infantry Battalion based in Siaton town, Negros Oriental.
Patrimonio told The Freeman the plan was hatched allegedly by the NPA amid moves by the Philippine Army to begin shifting its forces by the end of August from the south of the province to concentrate on the insurgency problem in the central and northern towns and cities affected by it.
Sison, for his part, said he was unfazed by such report and that he welcomed it because it would mean the rebels would be forced to come out in the open and hunt him down.
He further disclosed that the plan to kill him, which intelligence operatives uncovered sometime in May this year, was to be purportedly carried out by a merged group of NPA rebels from the Komiteng Rehiyon Negros (KRN) operating and the Komiteng Rehiyonal Sentral Bisayas-South East Front (KRSB-SEF).
“The rebels need to score big to boost their propaganda efforts considering that the NPA has not had any real impact in the area of coverage of the 79th IB,” said Sison.
The Philippine Army has been targeting to reduce or totally eliminate the KRSB-SEF forces by the 3rd quarter of this year prior to deploying troops of other military units elsewhere in the province, but Sison said the 79th IB will remain in Siaton and its area of responsibility. (FREEMAN)