By Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD City – Police are having difficulty identifying the perpetrators of insurgency-related killings in Negros Occidental because witnesses fear for their safety.
Police Captain Judesses Catalogo, public information officer of Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo), said that 16 insurgency-related incidents were reported from January to April this year.
Of this number, five were killings claimed by the New People’s Army (NPA). They also recorded 10 encounters, and one burning incident.
The five NPA killings happened in the towns of Moises Padilla, La Castellana, and Ilog, while clashes occurred in the cities of Himamaylan, Sipalay, Kabankalan, and Escalante, and the towns of Cauayan, Moises Padilla, Binalbagan, and Isabela. The burning incident transpired in Cauayan town.
“May witnesses pero nahadlok sila kay basi balikan,” Catalogo said. Despite the difficulties, Catalogo said that policemen were able to file charges against identified perpetrators.
He urged more witnesses to cooperate with the police in order to file additional charges against the other perpetrators.
Meanwhile, the Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade (IBde) condemned the killings perpetrated by the NPA rebels. They deployed troops to conduct security patrols to prevent the same from happening.
