DAVAO CITY —- They belong to the same region but used to stand on different ideological grounds but death broke the barrier, the soldiers whom her group once considered their enemy brought her cold cadaver to her family to be reunited.
Aprecia Gonzales Alvarez, known as Bambam, served as head of the Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee (WMRPC), a regional New People’s Army (NPA) unit operating in Zamboanga Peninsula, was killed in an encounter with the soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division, Philippine Army early morning on February 27, 2024 in the hinterlands of Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur
Alvarez joined the armed movement in the early 1990s in the Municipality of Compostela, Davao de Oro, and served as the Political Instructor of the Dismantled Guerrilla Front 3.
She then led Guerrilla Front 15 operating in the boundaries of Compostela and Monkayo from 1995 to 1999 before her designation as leader of the Guerrilla Front 20 in Monkayo from 2000 to 2004.
From 2005, she held various designations as regional staff of the Southern Mindanao Regional before her deployment to WMRPC in 2009 where she eventually became its top leader in 2012.
Bringing her cadaver to their hometown in Loreto, Agusan del Sur was a challenge.
Despite the ideological differences, the military through 1001st Infantry Battalion commander Brigadier General Ronnie Babac, facilitated the transport of the cadaver from Zamboanga City to bring her home via the military’s Black Hawk Military Helicopter.
On February 27, Alvarez was finally home.
Loreto town in under Babac’s area of command.
The Army commander conveyed his condolences to the bereaved family of Alvarez, “. “we gave importance to the feelings of her loved ones. We hope that it might somehow lighten their sorrows.”
“It is with deep sorrow watching people weep for their deceased loved ones, fighting a senseless war against the Government. This could have been avoided (death) if she only surrendered and returned to mainstream society, but instead, they (NPA rebels) chose to fight it out with the government to the death. I sincerely condole with the bereaved family of @Bambam”, Babac said.
