Troops of 30th Infantry Battalion recovered a decomposing body of Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army on Saturday around 3 p.m. at Barangay Lahi, Gigaquit, Surigao del Norte.
Lt. Tere Ingente, the spokesperson of 4th Infantry Division, said that earlier that day, residents reported to the 30th IB’s Community Support Program (CSP) team deployed in the area the foul scent that came from the mountainous part of the said community.
“From the information received, our CSP team, together with the barangay captain and local tanods, went to the area to check where and what caused the foul scent. Around one kilometer from the community, the group found a decomposing body of an NPA terrorist,” Lt. Col. Allen Tomas explained.
Found with the body were a pair of rain boots, and a bandolier, a Spikes Tactical SL15 Striker 5.56mm rifle, four magazines and 81 rounds of ammunition. The recovered body and items were directly brought to the barangay.
It can be recalled that last July 10, there was a 15-minute firefight between troops of 30IB and 10 NPAs of Sangay ng Partido sa Platun 16C (SPP16C), Guerrilla Front Committee 16 (GFC16) of North Eastern Mindanao Regional Command (NEMRC) at the vicinity of same barangay, Gigaquit town.
There was no casualty reported in the troops of 30IB yet, bloodstains show that there were casualties from the NPAs SPP16C.
“After four days of the encounter in Barangay Lahi, our troops found a dead NPA terrorist left by his comrade,” Brig. Gen. Nemesio Gacal, commander of 403rd Infantry Brigade, said.
“This is not the first incident where NPA terrorists leave their dead comrade in the encounter site,” Gacal said.
“They even did not inform the family nor gave a decent burial. Further, we would like to thank the residents of Barangay Lahi that led to the recovery of the body so it can finally be turned over to his family and be given a decent burial,” he further said.
Moreover, the body was claimed and identified as Romel Tac-an Also Known as alias Jasper, the vice commander of SPP16C. She said he was identified by his father, Jaime Tac-an.
Maj. Gen Ronald Villanueva extended his sympathies to the families of the Tac-an.
