Surigao town residents secure NPA landmine

AN ANTI-PERSONNEL mine was discovered by vigilant civilians in the mountainous portion of Barangay Budlingin, Alegria, Surigao del Norte on Monday.

The military said the improvised explosive device belonged to the New

People’s Army (NPA). Residents took the item to make sure it would not endanger anyone else.

Last Nov. 18, 2019, communist rebels murdered Mamanwa brothers, Roy and Jimboy Biog, while they were hunting for wild

boars in a forested area at the tri-boundary of the municipalities of Alegria, Kitcharao, and Gigaquit.

Rino Colaste, alias Oto, spokesman of Guerrilla Front 16, confirmed the attack during an interview with different media outfits in Surigao City.

Until now, the family and the Mamanwa community are still waiting to recover the remains of Jimboy Biog.

In his statement, Lt. Col. Jeffrey A Villarosa, commanding officer of the 30th IB said, “Once again we commend the civilian residents, this time of Budlingin, for their vigilance. Despite the danger, the civilians took and brought the APM to a place far from the reach of its NPA owners, so as to deny them from using it in their terrorist activities.”

“I would like to once again call on our misguided brother NPAs that the use of landmines in warfare is a violation of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL),” Villarosa said.

Barangay Budlingin of Alegria, declared the NPAs as or unwelcome personalities in their barangay through Resolution No. 06-2019 dated April 3, 2019. persona non grata