Army pursues NPA remnants under 'Ka Oris' in Lanao Sur
By Divina Suson / Philippine News Agency
MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur – The armed men that military forces encountered earlier this week in Maguing, Lanao del Sur, were remnants of the group of slain New People’s Army (NPA) leader Jorge "Ka Oris" Madlos, a high-ranking military official here said.
Brig. Gen. Jose Maria Cuerpo, commander of the Army's 103rd Infantry Brigade, said the group, with around 20 members, is reported to have been hiding in the boundaries of Bukidnon and Lanao del Sur.
"This group is under the late (Jorge) Madlos of the North Central Mindanao Region," Cuerpo said in a text message to the Philippine News Agency on Tuesday night.
He added that they are continuously pursuing the NPA group in the area.
Madlos, one of the high-ranking officers of the New People’s Army (NPA), was killed in an encounter in Impasug-ong, Bukidnon on October 30.
On December 4, the military confirmed the encounter with around 20 armed men and exchanged fire with them for around 40 minutes in the peripheries of Maguing town.
War materials were recovered after the firefight including flags of the NPA.
Cuerpo said the military is also verifying if the same group was behind the December 3 bombing of the transmission tower of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines in Maguing town, some five kilometers away from the encounter site.
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) - NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The Anti-Terrorism Council also formally designated the National Democratic Front as a terrorist organization on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and separate part” of the CPP-NPA that was created in April 1973. (PNA)
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