The Guinayangan Republic

A suspected member of the communist New People?s Army was captured by government forces in a guerilla camp near the boundary of Quezon and Bicol early Tuesday, a military official said.
Army Colonel Narciso Alamag, chief of the Army?s 201st Infantry Brigade-Public Affairs Office, said that soldiers from the Army?s 74th and 76th Infantry Battalion engaged some 15 communist guerillas at the boundary of Guinayangan, Quezon and Sta. Elena, Camarines Sur late Monday afternoon.
The battle lasted for about 10 minutes after which the rebels escaped to different directions, according to an initial report, a copy of which was received by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
In a follow-up operation early Tuesday, government forces captured one Jimmy ?Ka Jimmy? Secretario in the village of San Jose in Guinayangan town, 255 kilometers south of Metro Manila. He surrendered two high-powered rifles, an M14, and M16, Alamag said.
Alamag said the captured rebel confessed that one of his comrades, Ka Carlo, was wounded in the encounter Monday afternoon.
Army Colonel Generoso Bolina, assistant chief of the unified command staff for civil military operations of the Armed Forces Southern Luzon Command (Solcom), said the place where Secretario was captured was an ?NPA camp."
The Solcom official said the military has been conducting anti-insurgency operations in southern Quezon after a combined team of police officers and Army soldiers intercepted the transport of heavy firearms in Buenavista, Quezon, believed to be owned by the NPA and intended to be used in extorting money from businessmen and election candidates.
?Our men are ready to foil the terrorists? extortion activities disguised as collection of the so-called revolutionary taxation, permit to campaign, and permit to win fees,? Bolina said over the phone
Last February 26, two suspected NPA rebels, Victor Ib-ib and Eduardo Olvinar, were arrested at a mobile checkpoint in Buenavista town while trying to transport an M60 machine-gun with 400 rounds of ammunitions; one M14 rifle; one bandoleer with 10 magazines loaded with M14 ammunitions; and four detonating cords with blasting caps.
The firearms loaded in an Isuzu mini dump truck and covered with sand were noticed by the lawmen when they spotted the muzzle of a gun jutting out.
The military said the seized weapons were intended to be turned over to an NPA unit in the province, tasked to intensify its extortion activities.

By Delfin Mallari Jr.
Inquirer Southern Luzon