Top NPA leader in Caraga region slain in Butuan City clash

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – A top ranking communist guerrilla in Mindanao was killed on Wednesday in an armed encounter with government troops, the military said.

The Army’s 4th Infantry Division (4ID) said in a statement that Myrna Sularte, known.as Maria Malaya in the underground movement, was killed in a clash between New People’s Army (NPA) rebels and soldiers of the Army’s 901st Infantry Brigade in the hinterlands of Butuan City.

READ: Alleged NPA rebel slain, soldier hurt in Batangas clash

According to Lt. Col. Francisco Garello Jr., 4ID public affairs chief, the soldiers were in combat operation against the NPA’s Northeastern Mindanao Regional Committee (NEMRC) in Sitio Tagulahi of Barangay Pianing in Butuan City, beginning on Wednesday morning.

Sularte was slain in a clash in the afternoon with soldiers of the Army’s 30th Infantrh Battalion, said Garello.

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The 4ID described Sularte as a “top NPA leader in (the) Caraga (region).”

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Brigadier General Arsenio D.C. Sadural, commander of the 901st Brigade, said that Sularte was the secretary of NEMRC as well as member of the political bureau of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

She was the widow of the late Jorge “Ka Oris” Madlos, head of the NPA’s National Operations Command (NOC), who was killed in October 2021 during an encounter with government forces in Bukidnon.

“We have finally brought an end to the reign of terror in Caraga, led by Malaya,” Sadural declared.

Sadural said that apart from rebellion, Sularte was facing multiple criminal charges, including destructive arson, robbery with double homicide, Dldamage to property, kidnapping and serious illegal detention, robbery in band, murder, multiple murder, and frustrated murder.

Brigadier General Michele Anayron Jr., 4ID commander, lauded the achievement of the soldiers.

“It is unfortunate that Malaya has suffered the same tragic fate as her husband, Ka Oris, and their son, Vincent. We have offered them the path of peace countless times, yet they have never listened or given us a chance,” Anayron said.

Anayron is hopeful that Sularte’s death “will be the final straw leading to the total surrender” of remaining NPA rebels in the Caraga region.