FINALLY. Oplan Sauron’s bloody police operations in Negros Oriental in 2018 and 2019 will be probed by the House Quad Committee. Rep. Gabriela Arlene Brosas got the ball rolling during the 10th Quad Communications hearing. The quad comm thus invites former PNP leader Debold Sinas to the next hearing. Oplan Sauron is the brainchild of Sinas when he was chief of the Central Visayas Police Regional Office.

The first Oplan Sauron was implemented on December 27 and 28, 2018, while the second part followed on March 30, 2019. The massive law enforcement operations were named after the morbid but telling name of the evil entity Frodo , Aragorn and their friends sought to conquer. in Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings”.

The assassination of Guihulngan City Deputy Police Chief, Senior Inspector Porferio Gabuya Jr. on December 19, 2018, became the pretext for Oplan Sauron. General Sinas announced that the New People’s Army was behind the assassination of the policeman, which the rebels denied. Over the next few days, a Cebu City judge issued about 100 search warrants. The majority of targets were residents of the town of Guihulngan.

Terror was unleashed before sunrise on December 27 when hundreds of police and other uniformed personnel stormed into the town of Guihulngan. A friend of mine recounted how his father, a former rebel, was arrested for possessing a magazine containing bullets. The uniformed men who executed the arrest warrant entered the house while the target was still outside, unable to observe what was happening. Later, the magazine was “found” behind a picture frame.

My friend’s father was charged with illegal possession of ammunition and had to post P30,000 bail for his temporary freedom. This is not a small amount for rural people. Most defendants were assisted by overworked public prosecutors because they could not afford private lawyers. Apparently, several cases have not seen any development for some time. Now that the quadcomm will look into Oplan Sauron, it would be good to ask the Ministry of Justice to check the progress of the files.

Five men were killed in the town of Guihulngan during Oplan Sauron. One of the five was Jesus Isugan. The police proudly announced that they had neutralized the man who murdered Philippine Air Force Staff Sgt. Mark Herbert Oberes in Cebu on January 31, 2018. But it was Tomas, the brother of Jesus, who took Oberes’ life. An arrest warrant for Tomas, a known NPA member, was issued by the Talisay City (Cebu) prosecutor. The police killed an innocent man and then lied to the public about it.

Oplan Sauron Part 2 followed on March 30, 2019. Fourteen men were shot and many arrested. Eight of the victims were from Canlaon City.

No, it wasn’t really about drugs. Or, as Congresswoman Brosas pointed out, Oplan Sauron was a mix of counter-drug, counter-illegal firearms and counter-insurgency operations. Many, probably the majority, of the people against whom search warrants were issued were suspected of having links to the NPA. Perhaps some actually actively supported the NPA. But others were former rebels who had long abandoned armed struggle. Like Melinda Abraham, the captain of the small and isolated barangay Tacpao. Authorities said they recovered a grenade launcher, a .38-caliber pistol, ammunition and other contraband from her home. I’m not sure what happened to Abraham’s case, but she is still the barangay captain since 2024. At the time of her arrest on December 27, 2018, she was praised by her constituents for her good work as barangay barangay chairwoman.

The city of Guihulngan was a hotbed of insurrection in the Visayas during the time of Oplan Sauron. Brosas spoke of 2017 as a year marked by an escalation of violence. I agree. The NPA strengthened its forces after the withdrawal of military troops in August 2016. On July 21, 2017, rebels killed six police officers, including the police chief. Several suspected NPA sympathizers were subsequently assassinated by unidentified vigilantes. It was tit for tat, as it was before 2017. Insurgency-related killings continued. The NPA liquidated a number of military informants, local government officials and people accused by rebels of being drug traffickers, rapists and murderers.

The security guards fought back. The town of Guihulngan clearly had a peace and order problem. But Oplan Sauron’s brutality generated its own wave of retaliation. At least five of the many people murdered by the NPA over the following months and years were accused of direct participation in Oplan Sauron, such as guiding law enforcement teams to the targets’ homes. Oplan Sauron became further justification for the NPA to commit atrocities against government forces and anyone seen as helping the government – ​​another example of how violence begets violence.