To win back NPA-influenced Bicol village

THE Philippine National Police’s Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) has gone on a “risky” mission to win back the “hearts and minds” of residents of a Camarines Norte village known for having a strong New People’s Army (NPA) influence, the Journal Group learned on Monday.

According to PNP-SAF Director Brigadier General Edgar Alan O. Okubo, commandos from the 91st Special Action Company of the SAF’s 9th Special Action Battalion have entered Barangay Dumagmang in Labo, Camarines Norte to bring their “Revitalized-Pulis sa Barangay” or R-PSB program.

“We are engaging the community with the R-PSB program to defeat the enemy,” said the PNP-SAF commander in referring to the Bgy. Labo, a mining community, known for being heavily influenced by the NPA movement,” said Okubo in a report to PNP Chief Gen. Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr.

Thru their R-PSB program, PNP-SAF troopers are helping residents of so-called “Geographically Isolated and Disadvantageous Areas” of GIDAS in the countryside build their own schools, potable water, and irrigation system, roads, and other facilities that would help uplift their lives.

The R-PSB program has also enabled tens of thousands of indigenous people in Southern Mindanao to have their birth registration papers which are needed each time they apply for government support, including free schooling for their children.

Bgy. Labo is the scene of an NPA attack on March 20, 2021, which killed five members of the Camarines Norte Provincial Mobile Force Company (PMFC) and wounded two others.

Officials said that the Camarines Norte PMFC detachment in the area was attacked by a group of heavily-armed NPA rebels on that fateful day after local residents said they didn’t want the presence of government forces in their barangay.

Intelligence reports said that the barangay remains under NPA influence to date prompting the PNP-SAF to embark on a six-month challenge to recover the barangay for the government.

In March 2021, members of the 2nd PMFC of the Camarines Norte PPO were attacked by NPA guerrillas in Purok 6 in Bgy. Dumagmang – triggered a fierce gunbattle that left five officers dead and two others wounded.

The fighting was so intense that it lasted for some three hours, officials said. When the gun smoke cleared, five policemen identified as Corporal Roger Estoy and Patrolman Joey Cuarteros, Benny Ric Bacurin, Jeremy Alcantara, and Alex Antioquia were reported dead. Wounded were Cpl. Eric Hermoso and Pat. Aldrin Aguito.

It turned out that the policemen led by Lieutenant Louie James Amoy were on a preventive patrol in the area when they were fired upon by the leftist gunmen. Following the firefight, reinforcement from the PRO5 Regional Mobile Force Battalion, the Camarines Norte PPO, the PNP Special Action Force, and the Philippine Army’s 902nd Infantry Battalion were sent to the site to conduct the hot pursuit operation.

Three Air Force and two PNP helicopters were also deployed to the scene to retrieve the bodies of the slain policemen and to take the wounded to the hospital.