Army steps up security as soldiers, rebels clash in Zamboanga del Norte

ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY, Philippines – The military on Friday, May 6, said it has stepped up security measures to thwart any attempt to sabotage the elections in Zamboanga del Norte.

This came after government troops clashed with communist guerrillas in one town in the province at a time when vote-counting machines (VCMs) were being brought to election precincts there.

Brigadier General Leonel Nicolas, commander of the Army’s 102nd Infantry Brigade, said on Friday that rebels were likely planning on disrupting the electoral process in the area.

He said soldiers encountered remnants of groups under the New People’s Army’s Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee in Zamboanga del Norte on Thursday afternoon, May 5.

Soldiers and rebels exchanged firepower for about 30 minutes in the village of Tinuyop, a hinterland village of Leon Postigo town, while government troops were securing the distribution of VCMs to the polling precincts in the area.

When the rebels retreated, Nicolas said, troops found personal belongings, foodstuff, medicine supplies, and other paraphernalia left behind at the encounter site.

Nicolas assured that Army units under his command were on top of the situation even as he downplayed the encounter as “an isolated case.”

He said the NPA in the Zamboanga Peninsula region was already “weak in number and firepower.”

On April 20, Nicolas had pushed for the declaration of Zamboanga del Norte as an insurgency-free province. The subsequent declaration left Misamis Occidental as the only province under the jurisdiction of the Army’s 102nd IB with an active insurgency movement.

He said the NPA group, known to the military as Guerrilla Front Sendong, has continued to operate in Misamis Occidental.

The Army units under Nicolas have operational jurisdiction over the provinces of Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, and Misamis Occidental.

Zamboanga Sibugay and Zamboanga del Sur were declared as insurgency-free provinces last year. – Rappler.com

Antonio Manaytay is a Mindanao-based journalist and an awardee of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship