Albayalde orders probe on NPA attack in Misamis quarry site

PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) Chief Oscar Albayalde said on Tuesday, August 20, that he ordered the Civil Security Group (CSG) to look into the possible lapses of the security agency of a private firm in Balingasag town in Misamis Oriental after they were attacked and disarmed by members of the communist New People’s Army (NPA).

“The investigation seeks to look into possible administrative and operational lapses by the private security provider of this vital installation,” he said in a press conference in Camp Crame.

Around 6:30 a.m. on Monday, NPA rebels arrived at the quarry site of Minergy Coal Power Plant and took the AK-47 assault rifles of the five company guards who were then on duty.

They also took several rounds of ammunition, radio transceiver sets and other equipment of value before fleeing.

Albayalde said the blue guards of AY76 security agency were apparently caught flat-footed and did not offer any resistance when the raiders arrived at the scene.

Misamis Oriental Police Director Robert Bahian has ordered his men to pursue the rebels involved in the attack.

For his part, Brigadier General Edgardo de Leon, 403rd IB commander, denounced the attack on a civilian facility and tagged it as another “NPA violation of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL).”

“The NPA, as a non-state armed group, deliberately attacked an ‘undefended area’, as it is not a military compound. The people they attacked are civilians who have no direct participation in the armed insurgency conflict because they are plain civilian security guards. The NPA (rebels) did not distinguish civilians from combatants, which is a clear disrespect (for) humanitarian law,” he said.

De Leon cited another IHL ground related to the civilian-owned firearms which the rebels carted

Misuari on Wednesday, August 21, but refused to give further details.

Pressed if Duterte wants the creation of a new political entity in favor of the MNLF, Galvez said: “I will go to him ‘cause I’ll clarify his guidance.”

He said a new regional government for MNLF could help the government achieve Duterte’s target to make Sulu, a bailiwick of Misuari, “peaceful” within the year.

“The main challenge, geographically, of the BARMM is Sulu,” the presidential peace adviser said.

“Right now, alam naman natin na ang MNLF, ang pinaka-main ano nila is Sulu. And ang pinakamain concern ni Presidente is maging peaceful ang Sulu within the year (Right now, we know that the Sulu is the MNLF’S bailiwick. And the President’s main concern is to make Sulu peaceful within the year),” he added.

The BARMM was established following the January 21 and February 6 plebiscites that led to the ratification of the historic Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), which is anchored on the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro inked between the national government and the MILF in 2014.

The BARMM, which replaces the now-defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, enjoys expanded land and water jurisdiction, greater fiscal autonomy, and increased share in national government resources, among others.

The new Bangsamoro region is composed of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-tawi, Marawi City, Lamitan City, Cotabato City, and 63 villages in North Cotabato.

Duterte in February revealed that there were “rumblings” within the MNLF following the alleged unequal distribution of slots in the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, a body that serves as interim government of the BARMM.

On March 20, the President divulged that Misuari had threatened to wage a war, if his administration fails to approve a shift to federalism./sunstar Philippines