ILOILO – Mt. Napulak, a popular hiking destination in the municipality of Igbaras, has been temporarily ordered off-limits to backpackers and hikers. The Philippine National Police and Philippine Army are wary of people climbing it. They could be rebels, according to Mayor Vicente Escopion Jr.
Following the death of seven suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Barangay Atabay, San Jose, Antique on Aug. 15, the Igbaras police station and the Army’s 61st Infantry Battalion recommended Mt. Napulak’s temporary closure. The Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) warned of possible retaliatory attacks from insurgents across Western Visayas.
Igbaras is a mountainous municipality some 40 kilometers southwest of Iloilo City. It shares borders with the hinterland municipality of Sibalom in Antique.
“Authorities are wary that some people hiking Mt. Napulak could actually be rebels in disguise and have sinister plans,” according to Escorpion.
The mayor acknowledged that Igbaras had an insurgency problem but he insisted there were no monitored movements of rebels in his municipality.
Igbaras is made up of 46 barangays. The police station of the municipality has been identified by the PRO-6 as one of 15 police outposts in Iloilo province vulnerable to NPA attacks.
While Escorpion agreed to the temporary closure of Mt. Napulak, he expressed concern that it could adversely affect the local tourism industry. The mountain is considered one of the most popular hiking destinations in Panay Island given its proximity to the city where many local mountaineering groups are based.
One of Mt. Napulak’s distinct features is the gigantic rounded rock that sits at its summit. Its slopes are forested but its upper reaches are mostly exposed.
According to Escorpion, on weekends at least 50 mountain climbers would scale the summit of Mt. Napulak.
He plans to have a meeting with the local police force and Army. He wants to know how long would the mountain’s closure last.
Meanwhile, families of the seven suspected rebels killed in San Jose, Antique do not an encounter with the police and Army soldiers led to the deaths.
All the seven had gunshot wounds on the head and according to human rights group Panay Alliance Karapatan, this indicated that what happened was not an encounter contrary to what the PRO-6 claimed.
The seven were most probably sleeping when they were peppered with bullets, said Reylan Vergara, secretary general of the rights group./PN
How could you become a rebel if you have no guns arm only with camera and backpack. Authorities are making things complicated. Hikers are people who want to enjoy nature’s view they are pack of people that are so noisy and enjoy walking and taking picture with no guns. I wish police and military are professional enough to identify between bandits and hikers. Not only shot and shot and shot and tell that they rebels stop tose mentality and be a professional peace keepers.