MAWAB, DAVAO DE ORO – Five members of a known Communist Terrorist Group (CTG) were killed and several others are believed to be wounded in a firefight with government forces,
The fatalities were identified as Jojarain Alce Nguho II alias Rain, Chad Booc alias Chad, a certain alias Daday and two still unidentified male individuals.
After the 15-minute firefight, the CTG withdrew southwards, leaving behind several weapons, assorted food supplies, and personal belongings.
The armed encounter between the troops of the 1001st Infantry Brigade and the CTG’s Regional Headquarters, Southern Mindanao Regional Committee (RHQ-SMRC), believed to be led by Eric Jun Casilao alias Wally/Ellan and Regional Operations Command-SMRC (ROC-SMRC) led by Leo Lacumbo alias Ole, happened at Purok-8, Barangay Andap, New Bataan, Davao de Oro, early morning of February 24, 2022.
Last February 15, 2021, Chad Booc was one of those arrested in a Bakwit school located in San Carlos University – Talamban Campus in Cebu City for alleged trafficking of Indigenous People (IPs) from Talaingod, Davao del Norte. Booc was later released together with six others after a court decision in Cebu.
Booc graduated cum laude from UP Diliman with a degree of Bachelor in Computer Science. He was a known activist and CTG recruiter even in his UP days, and was also involved in Manilakbayan, a protest march organized by the CTG involving IPs coming mainly from Mindanao in 2015.
After his college days, he volunteered as a Mathematics teacher in the Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural Development (ALCADEV) in Lianga, Surigao del Sur, and later on volunteered for the Bakwit School in Cebu.
These Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army affiliated schools, including Salugpungan Schools in Davao Region, were all closed down by the government.
“The neutralization of Chad Booc proved that the so-called Lumad Schools like ALCADEV, MISFI, Salugpungan, CTCSM (Community Technical College of Southern Mindanao), and others are indeed breeding grounds of the CTG. It is in these institutions where innocent IP children are being radicalized and influenced to take arms against the government,” Brigadier General Jesus Durante III, Commander of the 1001st Brigade, said.
“We call on the parents whose children are still with these institutions to take action. Rescue your children immediately before it’s too late. Seek help from the authorities so that we can eventually rescue them,” Durante added.
Meanwhile, Nguho II, one of the fatalities, was also a CTG scholar who graduated from Liceo de Tagum and also a volunteer teacher in the CTCSM in Barangay Lapu-lapu, Maco, Davao de Oro.
This year alone, the 1001st Brigade already figured in six 6 skirmishes against CTGs, which led to the neutralization of top NPA personalities to include Menandro Villanueva, Secretary of the NPA’s Komisyong Mindanao (KOMMID), and the recovery of war materiel.