NPAs confirm Davao raid, abduction of Manero's brother

MANILA, Philippines - Communist New People's Army rebels confirmed abducting a brother of freed priest killer Norberto Manero and seizing 10 high-powered rifles in the Calinan district in Davao last Sunday. This, the NPA unit said, was meant as a goodbye gift for former Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and a welcome gift for his successor Gen. Alexander Yano. Rigoberto Sanchez, spokesman of the Merardo Arce Command of the Southern Mindanao Regional Operational Command, said their personnel raided the farm of banana magnate Rafael Lorenzo. "We say good riddance to Arroyo's erstwhile chief fascist loyalist and prepare to again deal more blows to the AFP under General Alexander Yano," Sanchez said in a statement on the Communist Party of the Philippines website. Yano formally took over the post of Esperon last Monday. Sanchez said Lorenzo's bodyguard, ex-Master Sgt. Jose Manero, was taken into custody "for investigation purposes." He said the 1st Pulang Bagani Company of the Merardo Arce Command raided the farm of Lorenzo in Pangyan, Calinan, Davao City Sunday. The NPAs took four M-14 rifles, three Garand rifles, one M-4 automatic rifle, one baby Armalite, and one M-79 grenade launcher. "This latest tactical offensive by the NPA in Southern Mindanao coincide with the last day of General Hermogenes Esperon Jr. as Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). With this successful tactical offensive, the MAC-NPA has added 26 high-powered rifles to its armed strength," Sanchez noted. "There is no clearer indication of the 10th IDs' mounting frustration and failure against the revolutionary movement than the sustained and widespread tactical offensives of the NPA," he added. - GMANews.TV