CAMP MELCHOR F. DELA CRUZ, Gamu, Isabela – A top New People’s Army (NPA) leader in Cagayan Valley (Region 2) was killed in an encounter with troops of the 86th Infantry Battalion (IB) in San Mariano Sur, San Guillermo, this province, Monday.
With the help of former NPA rebels, the remains were positively identified as that of Rosalio V. Canlubas, alias “Yuni,” commander of the Regional Operations Command (ROC) and the Regional Sentro de Gravidad (RSDG), Komiteng Rehiyon-Cagayan Valley (KR-CV) of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)-NPA.
Statements from the former rebels and captured enemy documents said that Canlubas, of Calinan, Davao City, was from the Regional Headquarters (RHQ), Southern Mindanao Regional Committee (SMRC), before he was transferred by the Central Committee of the CPP-NPA to Region 2 to lead the ROC and establish the Komiteng Larangang Guerilla Quirino-Nueva Vizcaya (KLG Q-NV) of the KR-CV.
Canlubas sustained fatal bullet wounds and his comrades brought him to the hinterlands of Barangay Dingading, San Guillermo where he was buried in a shallow grave. Pursuing troops were able to locate the grave of Canlubas thru information shared by residents.
In coordination with Scene-of-the-Crime Operatives (SOCO) and PNP San Guillermo, government troops exhumed his cadaver on March 17.
Canlubas allegedly led the burning of millions worth of heavy equipment and high-end utility vehicles owned by a mining firm in Barangay Dimaluadi, Dinapigue, Isabela on Oct. 28, 2015.
The Army 5th Infantry Division (ID) said that Canlubas also led a band of NPA rebels who attacked the Maddela Police Station in Quirino on April 29, 2017. A policeman was killed and police firearms and uniforms were seized in the attack.
Major Gen. Laurence E. Mina, 5th ID commander, said that the death of Canlubas will eventually weaken the RSDG of KR-CV.