BORONGAN CITY– The troops of the 46th Infantry (Peacemaker) Battalion, under the operational control of the 802nd Infantry (Peerless) Brigade, 8th Infantry (Stormtroopers) Division, Philippine Army discovered a food cache containing one 20-liters gallon full of rice grains and one 4-liters gallon packed with salt at the vicinity of Brgy. San Isidro, Las Navas, Northern Samar on Monday (Oct. 2).
The discovery of the food cache is a result of the ongoing operations conducted by Army troops in Samar provinces to ensure that the area is completely free from the presence of pestering communist terrorist groups.
The troops tirelessly scoured the expanse of the area in search of any tracks or signs of the presence of NPAs, their hideouts, and previous settlements.
As they probed against the ground, they stumbled upon some left-out tracks and found the aforementioned food cache that was buried to support their sustenance.
Said discovery severed the CNT’s logistical line of support hence delimiting their capacity to operate in the area.
Brigadier General Noel A. Vestuir, commander of the 802nd IB stated that “By cutting their food supplies and delimiting their capacity to operate, we have created a crisis situation among the NPA ranks because of starvation.”
“The loss of the support of the people in their former mass bases aggravates the situation since they no longer have contacts and couriers in the area that they could utilize to procure, transport and deliver the much-needed resources and logistical requirements for them to survive while evading our troops and hiding in the mountains,” he said.
“We know and understand the predicament and hardships of the remaining NPA terrorists in the area that is why we would like to reiterate our call for them to lay down their arms and join their families in the mainstream of our society. Let us put to an end, this more than five decades of local communist armed conflict that tremendously affected not only us who are directly involved in armed clashes but most especially our people,” Vestuir said.
“We in the Philippine Army value the preservation of life and support the government’s efforts in providing an inclusive-sustainable economic development. We once again call on you to go back to the folds of the society and take part in various programs that uplift the standard of living of our people, of which our Friends Rescued Engagement thru their Families (FReE Families) program advocates,” he concluded.(PR)
