SIKATUNA.-Some quarters, mainly political, feared that insurgency is poised to rear its ugly head in Bohol, but S/Supt. Constantino Paul Barot, Jr. dismissed speculations to this effect, saying the possibility is only on the prospect of the outlawed organization trying to recover lost ground, if any. The provincial police director’s statement of assurance that authorities are on top of the situation was bolstered by the observation of Sikatuna Mayor Jose Ellorimo that there was nothing alarming of a recent “close encounter” of a town policeman with three armed men in barangay Badiang, this town. The armed men engaged the Sikatuna lawman in a brief gun battle but no injuries of both protagonists were reported as a result. Bohol’s intelligence community is abuzz with reports that the armed component of the Communist Party of the Philippines is making a comeback bid in Bohol as what Supt. Barot suspected as “trying to recover lost ground”.

The top police’s premonition was based on the assumption that Bohol remains to be populated by communist front organizations termed in insurgency parlance as White Area Committee. It used to be that Bohol was home to a ragtag army of armed insurgents belonging to the lawless New People’s Army but during the time of Gov. Erico Aumentado, now second district congressman, he managed to win the hearts and minds of the rebels to keep Bohol out of their ideological influence. With renewed suspicion of the NPA making its presence felt in Bohol, speculations in the grapevine indicate that the come backing rebels are going to be used as vote-getting tools in the coming elections. According to reports in the intelligence community, there are political personalities who believed in the capability of the NPA as instruments of intimidation in favour of candidates who have known ties with the leftwing group.

SIGHTINGS

The Sikatuna clash, actually, was only part of several sightings of armed men in towns with mountainous terrain like Bilar, Sevilla, Dimiao, Valencia, to name a few. But according to Supt. Barot, when he compared notes with officers of several Army detachments based in Bohol, the sightings are yet to be validated if the so-called armed men are NPAs. Like the PNP, the Army in Bohol, is yet to make a definitive stand if indeed the NPA has made a comeback in Bohol.

SIKATUNA CLASH

The police-armed clash in Sikatuna was doubted no less by Mayor Ellorimo if it was insurgency-related. His reading of the so-called encounter was that it was the handiwork of outlaws roaming around the country sides possibly to rob when the opportunity presents itself. The mayor also suspected that the three, for all you know, are caretakers of a huge marijuana plantation in the forested areas of Badiang which shares a common boundary with Sevilla and Balilihan. Brushing aside the NPA angle, Mayor Ellorimo said, he cannot think of any prudent reason for NPA’s to be wearing short pants and toting short arms. The mayor believed that NPAs are supposed to be equipped with high-powered firearms like armalites or other kinds of assault rifles.

HOW IT HAPPENS

A PNP officer of Sikatuna chanced upon the three armed men while responding to an alarm of residents regarding their presence in the forested part of barangay Badiang, sitio Kairo.  Intelligence officer Abundio Jala of the Sikatuna PNP verified whether the information he received about the reported presence of three armed men in barangay Badiang was true but instead was met with burst of gunfire. The officer returned fire while the two, with the other one acting as lookout, positioned themselves for the armed encounter. Even as a shootout ensued, nobody was injured in the brief exchange of gunfire.  This prompted Camp Dagohoy and 802 nd Philippine Army to dispatch troops immediately for reinforcement. They returned empty handed.  In a telephone interview, a source of neighboring Sevilla said, a police force from this town was also dispatched to the area as a blocking force.

 Meanwhile, Camp Dagohoy sources and the AFP based in Bohol dismissed speculation circulated around about the armed men in the Sikatuna shootout are NPAs as reported in the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) meeting last Friday in Guindulman town where the HEAT caravan medical mission was conducted.  As this developed, Camp Dagohoy also dismissed talks being spread around earlier that day that the intelligence officer was snatched by the armed men. Law enforcers are still in hot pursuit of the armed men who fled in the forested area near the boundary of Sevilla and Balilihan towns. ( With reports from RVO)