LEGAZPI CITY – Government troopers raided Saturday a New People’s Army (NPA) rebel camp in the hinterland village of Sitio Tacad, Barangay Maysuran, Caramoran, Catanduanes, an official of the Philippine Army (PA) said.

Capt. Razaliegh Bansawan, 901st Army Brigade spokesman, said the raiding army soldiers, however, discovered that the guerrilla camp was already abandoned, apparently due to a series of tactical offensives launched recently by the military in the province.

Bansawan said elements of Alpha Company of the 83rd Infantry Battalion, led by 1st Lt. Edmar Gambot, raided the NPA camp at about 11 a.m. Saturday following a tip from concerned barangay residents.

The abandoned camp has eight huts, which can accommodate more or less 30 rebels, a common toilet, two water points, communist documents, and personal belongings.
He added that the camp was used by a 20-man rebel group led by NPA leader Daniel Frias, alias “Tabsâ,” of the Isla Pusa Guerrilla Front operating in Catanduanes.

Bansawan also said the series of military operations in Catanduanes led to the discovery of three other guerilla camps since the start of the military-police pact intensifying counter-insurgency campaign in the Bicol region.

Maj. Gen. Ruperto Pabustan, 9th Army Infantry Division commanding general, said the military will continue to intensify its counter-insurgency measures to topple down the remaining remnants of the communist guerrilla in Bicol.