BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—Military and police operatives in Cagayan Valley have arrested a suspected bomb maker of the New People’s Army rebels in the region.
Police Chief Supt. Jose Mario Espino, newly-installed police regional director for Cagayan Valley, identified the suspect as Kevin Bulayo, alias Ka Glen, of the remote upland barangay of Milo Jose Ancheta, a 45-minute ride from Maddela town in Quirino province.
Espino said Bulayo was arrested inside his house, which also yielded a cache of materials and accessories for improvised explosive devices.
Recovered materials and accessories were eight anti-tank bombs, 12 anti-personnel explosives, improvised switches, blasting cords and caps, four battery packs, 17 firing devices, cellphones—one of which contained the hotline of the Maddela Police Station—and laptop, a .45 pistol with ammunitions, and subversive documents.
“These materials confirmed our intelligence gathered that the communist rebels ae planning to conduct roadside bombings against our troops and the military. It is good that we prevented it due to the cooperation of our intelligence networks,” Espino said during a press briefing at the Provincial Police Office here.
He also tagged Bulayo as one of the communist rebels who raided a police station in Maddela last year, showing his picture printed from a recovered SB disk.
Espino said they are still conducting a background check on the membership of Bulayo to the NPA commands in Cagayan Valley.
The arrest of Bulayo, also tagged as “Blasterman” by the police and military, and the recovery of the improvised explosives is considered a major gain of the government.
Espino said Bulayo was a former medical officer of the NPA and was promoted as a bombmaker after training in IED making somewhere in Mindanao.
Brig. Gen. Perfecto Rimando, commanding officer of the Philippine Army’s 5th Infantry Division based in Gamu, Isabel, said Bulayo’s arrest was a result of inter-agency intelligence networking.
Brig. Gen. Bartolome Bacarro, commanding of the army’s 502nd Brigade based in Echague, Isabela, said similar IEDs recovered from Bulayo have been used in two landmine blasts in Nagtipunan town, also in Quirino province.
“We highly appreciate the help of our villagers who also contributed to the successful arrest of Bulayo and recovery of IEDs and other materials. Let us help each other in bringing peace to our communities,” he said.
Meanwhile, the provincial government here has donated huge tracts of farmlands to farmers in barangay Baretbet in Bagabag town.
The farmlands, dubbed as “Palayan ng Bayan,” were part of a former farm technology demonstration area by the provincial government through its Provincial Agriculture Office since the ‘80s.
The deed of donation was earlier approved by the provincial board after it was endorsed by former governor Ruth Padilla.
Current Gov. Carlos Padilla said the donation will open land titling opportunities for at least 50 farmers as initial beneficiaries.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources recently issued the land titles to the beneficiaries, Padilla added.
The signing of the waiver by former governor Padilla was witnessed by the farmers’ association president Manuel Manamtam, Constante Espiritu, provincial environment and natural resources officer, and Gov. Carlos Padilla.
