Marihatag, Surigao Del Sur – A female Communist NPA Terrorist (CNT) died and five (5) high-powered firearms were seized in a 45-minute encounter with the 3rd Special Forces “Arrowhead” Battalion (3SFBn) in barangay San Isidro, Marihatag on November 28. Firearms recovered were three (3) AK-47 rifles, one (1) M14 rifle, and one (1) M653 5.56 caliber rifle. 5 backpacks containing war material and subversive documents were also seized.
The dead NPA terrorist’s identity was confirmed by nine (9) former rebels and the Cullamat siblings as, Jevilyn Campos Cullamat alias “Ka Reb”, 22 years old and youngest daughter and child of Bayan Muna Representative Eufemia Campos Cullamat. Jevilyn Cullamat, who serves as a medic of the NPAs, belongs to the CNTs’ Sandatahang Yunit Pampropaganda (SYP) Platoon of Guerilla Front 19, Northeastern Regional Committee (NEMRC).
The cadaver of Cullamat was immediately evacuated and her siblings and members of her family were immediately notified prior to this report. The military provided security and transportation assistance to the Cullamat family and coordinated with the nearest mortuary for the proper handling of the cadaver.
The NPA terrorists’ slay of the late Lianga Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR), Datu Jumar S. Bucales on October angered the tribal communities all over Surigao Del Sur and vowed to help in tracking the Communist NPA Terrorists who mercilessly and brutally killed many defenseless IP leaders and members who were against their violent and terrorist movement.
“We will never stop the fight against these NPA terrorists until none of them roams in our ancestral lands. They have destroyed our culture and tradition and caused divisiveness and corrupted our tribe,” said Alexander Bucales, brother of the slain Datu Jumar Bucales, and the newly-installed and clan-elected IPMR of Lianga.
Lieutenant Colonel Joey B. Baybayan INF GSC PA, 3SFBn Commanding Officer urged other remaining CNTs to surrender because they are already losing ground.
“Two months earlier, the CNTs conducted tactical offensives to instill fear among civilians. The series of attacks to civilian soft targets and destruction of civilian properties only indicate that they are desperate and on the losing end while the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) is gaining ground deep within the heart of conflict-affected IP communities in Andap Valley,” LTC Baybayan, said.
“The CSP teams’ deployment, local government and civilian collaboration to reach and bring public service in the conflict-affected areas greatly countered their recruitment and resource generation making them hungry, exhausted and their morale low. We encourage the remaining CNTs to surrender. Don’t wait for the E-CLIP and the opportunity to peacefully surrender close its doors for you,” Baybayan, added.
It can be recalled that on November 4, government security forces also neutralized three NPA terrorists, and seized several high powered firearms at a Communist insurgents’ hideout in the hinterland area of Pangi, in Tandag City, Surigao Del Sur province.
Jevilyn Cullamat was a student of NPA-linked schools of TRIFPSS and ALCADEV. Substantial evidences recovered from the encounter site include five high-powered firearms, four IHL-banned improvised explosive devices, explosive components and blasting caps, fully loaded assorted rifle magazines, backpacks with personal belongings, assorted cellular phones, medical and food supplies and subversive documents.
This timely and significant operational accomplishment may shed light on the NPA Terrorists’ exploitation and recruitment of IP communities as this issue is currently tackled in the senate hearing on red-tagging.
Meanwhile, Brigadier General Allan D. Hambala AFP, 401st Infantry Brigade Commander extends its sincerest condolences to the family of Bayan Muna Representative Eufemia Campos Cullamat and calls for all IPs to unite in condemning the CNTs’ exploitation of IPs and abandon the futile armed terrorist struggle.
“We send our sincerest condolences to the Cullamat family. We are saddened because we know that she and her family were just victims to the CNTs’ destructive and pointless ideology. While there are issues concerning the IPs, violent, armed, and terrorist struggle will never be the right solution to it,” BGen Hambala, said.
“We also call on the nation to support the National Task Force in Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), to peacefully address the root causes of NPA terrorism and eventually end conflict here in Northern Mindanao,” Hambala ended.
(EastMinCom | DPAO 10th ID | 3rd Special Forces “Arrowhead” Battalion | RPN DXKS Surigao)