By AARON RECUENCO
Joint police and military operatives killed a top official of the New People’s Army (NPA) operating in Southern Tagalog area in a raid on his safehouse in Antipolo City before dawn Thursday.
Maj. Gen. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos, commanding general of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, said that aside from Armando Lazarte, two other communist rebels were also killed.
Lazarte, according to Burgos, is the secretary of Southern Tagalog Regional Party Committee’s (STRPC) Sub-Regional Military Area 4A. He also served as the concurrently an Executive Committee member of STRPC.
“This is a decisive blow to the communist terrorists for it will result to leadership vacuum, thus, further pushing them on the brink of collapse thereby fast-tracking our efforts to defeat insurgency and liberate our people from the clutches of terrorism in this part of the country,” said Burgos.
The official said the operation started with when security forces were notified by informants from within Lazarte’s group regarding the whereabouts of alias Pat Romano.
The tipoff, according to Burgos, was confirmed by some of the locals in the area.
Armed with arrest warrants for murder and frustrated murder, joint police and military operatives went to the area in Barangay Cupang’s Sierra Vista Subdivision at around 2 a.m. on Thursday.
Lt. Col Christopher Diaz, commander of the 80th Infantry Battalion which operates in Rizal Province, said Lazarte and his men opened fire at the arresting officers which triggered the shootout.
All the three rebels were taken to the hospital where they were declared dead.
