• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Local Task Force ELCAC (Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict) has extended assistance to the family of Mario Catacio, alias Malot, who was killed on April 4 after two encounters with military and police troopers in Brgy. Quintin Remo, Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental.
A statement from the 62nd Infantry Battalion said that cash assistance, in addition to food packs and free funeral services, were received by Rosita Catacio, mother of Mario, following the formal turnover of his cadaver at Nalagon Funeral Homes on April 5, which was witnessed by Moises Padilla PNP personnel.
Mayor Ella Celestina Garcia-Yulo is the chairperson of the Moises Padilla Task Force ELCAC.
The encounter between remnants of the Central Negros 1 guerilla unit, classified as dismantled by the Philippine Army, and combined forces of the 62IB and 2nd Negros Occidental Police Provincial Mobile Force Company yielded a KG9 sub-machine gun, a caliber .38 revolver with ammunition, and two rifle grenades, among other subversive war materials.
The cadaver of Catacio was left behind by five of his fleeing comrades at the encounter site.
Extending his condolences to the family of Catacio, Lt. Col. Evelio Ilanga III, 62IB commander, called on the rebel remnants to surrender now, before it will be too late.*
