KITAOTAO, Bukidnon—Two adjoining villages here have vowed to stand against any attack by New People’s Army rebels following the abduction and release this week of three locals to relay a message of an impending major assault by the militants to the communities.
White Kulaman village chairman Felipe Cabugnason confirmed to reporters the abduction last Nov. 5 of his three constituents namely, Samuel Paradero, a tribal leader; his son Beltran, and Jovani Rebaka, in adjacent sitio Bayugan, Kitubo village.
Cabugnason said the three were released on the same day with a message from the rebels for villagers to leave Kulaman and the near environs to be spared from the attack.
Apart from White Kulaman, the NPAs also threatened to attack the neighboring village of Kitubo.
He added that the rebels have stopped local store owners from buying goods from the town center to force government soldiers assigned in the area to come out of their detachments and become easy targets of rebels’ potshots.
Cabugnason maintained that despite the security threat, they would hold ground to repel the rebel attack even as he called on government to send more troops in their area.
The peripheries of White Kulaman and Kitubo villages, both situated in the border of Bukidnon and North Cotabato provinces, serve as rendezvous points of NPA guerillas when launching attacks against government troops and installations.