The New People’s Army (NPA)-Masbate (Jose Rapsing Command) condemned the 2nd IB for its false claim of an encounter in Barangay Nadawisan, Cataingan, Masbate on April 23, at 5 a.m. According to the unit, no clash occured, but instead, the soldiers fired indiscriminately to make it appear that there was an exchange of gunfire.

According to the 2nd IB’s fabricated story, it conducted a pursuit operation in the area after receiving reports of NPA presence in the area. It further claimed that the supposed clash lasted for five minutes.

To complete the fabricated story, the soldiers staged confiscating two firearms, two anti-personnel mines (APMs), ammunition, detonating cords, medical supplies, and some personal belongings in the barangay. The NPA-Masbate called all of this a lie.

“Civilians fear being caught up in the staged encounters by the military,” Masbate-NPA spokesperson Ka Luz del Mar said. She said the residents feel frightened because the reactionary state forces have repeatedly implicated civilians in the past to cover up their failure to capture or completely crush the people’s army in the province.

She added that the number of fake encounters and military violence will most likely increase as election day approaches. “With these schemes, the reactionary state forces will make it appear that the NPA is sowing chaos. They will make it seem that the province remains a hotspot or that the upcoming elections will not be peaceful,” she said.

Ka Luz called on the people of Masbate to act to expose and oppose the folly and unjust war being waged by the Marcos Jr reactionary state of against the people. “Hold Marcos Jr and his puppet armed forces accountable for sowing fascism and terrorism in the countryside,” she called.