The rebel who was killed in Wednesday’s encounter in Agusan del Norte was among the top leaders of the dismantled Guerrilla Front 4A (GF-4A) of the New People’s Army’s (NPA) North Central Mindanao Regional Committee (NCMRC).
In a statement Thursday, the Army’s 402nd Infantry Brigade (402Bde) said Peter Pinakilid was the finance and political officer of the GF-4A and a member of the Sub-Regional Committee 3 of the NCMRC.
Pinakilid was killed in Barangay Macalang, Buenavista town when his group of around 20 clashed with soldiers of the Army’s 12th Scout Ranger Company under the 4th Scout Ranger Battalion.
“Peter Pinakilid is the biological father of the most notorious NPA rebel, Jelan Pinakilid, alias Baking, who died in an encounter with the troops of the 58th Infantry Battalion last 18 February 2022 in Misamis Oriental,” 402Bde said.
The identity of Pinakilid was confirmed by a former rebel, it added.
“The NPA rebels were in the area to conduct extortion activities and the imposition of permit-to-campaign and permit-to-win on candidates for the upcoming local and national elections,” 402Bde said.
Brig. Gen. Adonis Ariel Orio, 402Bde commander, expressed condolences to the family of the slain NPA rebel.
“We are saddened that another life had to be wasted as ensued from a long senseless armed struggle that these NPA terrorists are still fighting for,” Orio said.
Peter and Jelan Pinakilid’s deaths are “a clear manifestation” of the NPA’s move to generate funds and sustain the rebellion, the Army official said.
Orio also urged the remaining NPA rebels in the area to surrender and return to their families and give their children a better future.
“We will continue to hunt the enemies down, and we will always be true to our commitment of ending more than five decades of insurgency,” he said.
Source: Philippines News Agency
Source: Philippines News Agency
