(Google map of Cortes, Surigao del Sur) BUTUAN CITY - Criminal charges have been filed against communist rebels involved in the road blocking and ransacking of houses in the town of Cortes on February 10, the Surigao del Sur Police Provincial Office (SDSPPO) disclosed Thursday. In an interview, SDSPPO Director Col. Joseph Boquiren said at least 24 New People's Army (NPA) insurgents were included in the criminal charges. "Charges of robbery in band and violation to the provisions of Republic Act No. 9851, otherwise known as Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes against Humanity were filed last February 14 at the provincial prosecutor's office in Surigao del Sur," Boquiren said. The rebels accused in the criminal complaint included Joel Mahinay, alias "Nico" of the Guerrilla Front 30, North Eastern Mindanao Regional Committee of the NPA, he added. The group of NPA guerrillas blockaded a portion of the national highway in Sit
HARASSMENT HIT. The Surigao del Sur Police Provincial Office (SDSPPO) criticizes the New People's Army (NPA) for harassing and intimidating civilians when they blocked a portion of the national highway Thursday morning (Feb. 10, 2022) in Sitio Lubcon, Barangay Mabahin, Cortes, Surigao del Sur. The SDSPPO said the highway was cleared at around 9:00 a.m. Thursday after the rebels dispersed in different directions. (Photo grabbed from SDSPPO FB Page) BUTUAN CITY - The communist New People's Army (NPA) on Thursday was slammed for blocking a national highway and threatening residents and travelers in Cortes, Surigao del Sur on Thursday. In a phone interview, Col. Joseph Boquiren, director of Surigao del Sur Police Provincial Office (SDSPPO), said the NPA caused terror and distress in the area when an undetermined number of rebels blocked a portion of the national highway in Sitio Lubcon, Barangay Mabahin, Cortes town early Thursday morning. "That was a plain show of force and a