At least 20 New People’s Army (NPA) rebels raided the house of Sta. Josefa town Mayor John Roby Otero in Agusan del Sur on Saturday.
According to Sta. Josefa municipal Councilor Reynaldo Quijada, the rebels took three licensed firearms – a shotgun, a caliber .45 pistol, and an unknown gun – from Otero’s house in Barangay Poblacion.
Quijada said the raid was meant to spite the military as the latter claimed the NPA in Agusan del Sur is disintegrating.
“The attack on our mayor’s house was an NPA propaganda to show the military was wrong in its claims that the rebel movement is disintegrating,” Quijada said.
The raid on Otero’s house was the second NPA attack in the Caraga region for the third quarter of this year alone. Last June 8, the NPA raided the house of Mayor Ramon Calo of Carmen town. Calo’s residence is located just across the Carmen municipal hall and police station.