The daughter of Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Eufemia Campos Cullamat was killed in an encounter Saturday afternoon in the hinterlands of Barangay San Isidro, Marihatag, Surigao del Sur, a report from the Army’s 3rd Special Forcer Battalion (3SFBn) said yesterday.
1Lt. Krisjuper Andreo Punsalan, civil-military operation officer of 3SFBn, identified the solon’s daughter as Jevilyn Campos Cullamat alias “Ka Reb”, 22, a member of the Sandatahan Yunit Pampropaganda (SYP) of Guerrilla Front (GF) 19 of the Northeastern Regional Committee (NEMRC) of the New People’s Army.
The Army also recovered three AK-47 rifles, one M14 rifle, one M653 5.56 caliber rifle, five backpacks that contain war materiel and subversive documents at the encounter site.
“Our troops were conducting security operations after receiving reports from civilians of the presence of armed men in the vicinity of San Isidro,” Punsalan said.
He added that the encounter lasted for about 45 minutes before the NPA rebels retreated, leaving behind the dead body of Cullamat.
“We already talked to the family this Sunday. The older children of Rep. Cullamat were already at the funeral parlor in Barobo, Surigao del Sur and confirmed that the dead body was their younger sister, Jevilyn,” Punsalan said.
Pursuit operation is still ongoing in the area to track down the remaining companions of Cullamat, a number of whom were also wounded during the encounter, he added.
Punsalan said nine former rebels (FRs) also confirmed that the slain rebel was Jevilyn Cullamat.
The FRs, he added, also reported that Jevilyn Cullamat was a student of NPA-linked schools Tribal Filipino Program of Surigao del Sur and the Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development in the area.
In a statement yesterday, 3SFBn commander Lt. Col. Joey Baybayan said the security operation and its outcome is timely and significant that may shed light on the continuing NPA exploitation and recruitment of indigenous peoples communities in Surigao del Sur.
“Two months earlier, the Communist NPA Terrorists conducted tactical offensives to instill fear among civilians. The series of attacks on civilian soft targets and destruction of civilian properties only indicate that they are desperate and on the losing end while the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict is gaining ground deep within the heart of conflict-affected IP communities in Andap Valley,” Baybayan said.
Andap Valley is among the identified conflict-affected areas in the province of Surigao del Sur due to the presence of the NPA.
The NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.*PNA
