BACOLOD CITY – A rifle and a handgun owned by two policemen were recovered from the site of an encounter between the military and New People’s Army (NPA) last week in Barangay Santol, Binalbagan, Negros Occidental.
The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo) said Tuesday, July 12, that the two firearms – a Springfield M14 rifle and a .45 caliber pistol – were issued to Police Corporal Jose Ray Bringuez and Police Staff Sgt. Ranulfo Estrada.
Bringuez was assigned to Sipalay City Police Station in Negros Occidental while Estrada at the Guihulngan City Police Station in Negros Oriental when the weapons were carted away.
According to the Negros Occidental police, these firearms were stolen from the two policemen when the NPA stormed a Compac in Barangay San Jose, Sipalay City April 30, 2010 and ransacked the La Libertad Municipal Police Station November 3, 2009.
Their status was confirmed through the Logistics Data Information Management System (LDIMS) and Philippine National Police-Firearms and Explosives Unit.
The Negros Occidental police maintained that the encounter was a legitimate operation, contrary to the claim of the rebel group.
Last July 6, four NPA rebels were killed in a clash with the 94th Infantry Battalion (IB), Provincial Mobile Force Company, and the 33rd Division Reconnaissance Company (33rd DRC) in Barangay Santol, following reports about the presence of unidentified armed men in the area.
The gunmen were believed to part of the NPA rebels who ambushed personnel of Binalbagan Municipal Police Station in Barangay Bi-ao in February, leaving two policemen wounded, according to the Army.
In fact, one of the slain rebels was a former local journalist from a well-off family in Cebu, according to the 3rd Infantry Division (ID).
She was reportedly recruited during her college years, until she joined protests and later joined the NPA in Central Negros.
The 3rd ID is calling for the government, through its educational institutions, to be more vigilant in resolving the NPA recruitment inside State Universities and Colleges, particularly in major cities like Cebu City.