By MARTIN A. SADONGDONG
The youngest daughter of Bayan Muna Partylist Representative Eufemia Campos Cullamat was killed in an armed encounter between the military and suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Marihatag, Surigao del Sur on Saturday, the Philippine Army reported Sunday.
A military report released by the 3rd Special Forces Battalion Sunday identified the fatality as Jevilyn Cullamat, 22, who was tagged as a “New People’s Army (NPA) medic” and a member of the Sandatahan Yunit Pampropaganda Platoon of the guerilla front 10, Northeastern Regional Committee.
Lieutenant Colonel Joey Baybayan, commanding officer of the 3rd Special Forces Battalion, said his troops were conducting combat operations in Barangay San Isidro when they were fired upon by an undetermined number of armed men. The firefight lasted for 45 minutes.
The troops inspected the encounter site after the trade of gunshots and it was then that they discovered the body of Cullamat.
Baybayan said the identity of the slain suspect was “confirmed by nine former rebels.”
“The cadaver of Cullamat was immediately evacuated and her siblings and members of her family were immediately notified,” Baybayan said.
According to Baybayan, Cullamat’s group was linked to the killing of Indegenous Peoples’ Mandatory Representative Datu Jumar Bucales sometime in October this year and “angered the tribal communities all over Surigao del Sur.”
This, he said, prompted tribal leaders to seek the help of the military to track down the communist group responsible for Bucales’ killing.
Cullamat was also described as a student of communist-linked indigenous schools in Surigao del Sur, Baybayan noted.
The troops recovered at the encounter site three Ak-47 rifles, an M14 rifle, and an M6 rifle as well as a backpack containing various documents and other personal belongings.
“We send our sincerest condolences to the Cullamat family. We are saddened because we know that she and her family were just victims to the CNT [communist-terrorist]’s destructive and pointless ideology,” said Brigadier General Allan Hambala, commander of the 401st Infantry Brigade.
