By E.H. EDEJER | June 25, 2026

MASINLOC, Zambales — The Zambales Police Provincial Office (ZPPO) unearthed on Thursday, June 25, an arms cache believed to be buried by rebels in the foothills of a remote village in this town.

ZPPO director PCol. Benjamin P. Ariola said members of the 1st Provincial Mobile Force Company (PMFC) discovered the hidden cache at Sitio Buri in Barangay Inhobol here following a tip from a former rebel.

“A former member of a Communist Terrorist Group (CTG) gave me information about the location of the arms cache. PMaj. Apolonio Ablan Jr. mobilized the 1^st PMFC to verify it and thus discovered the buried arms,” Ariola said in a statement late Thursday.

Among the items recovered from the site are two improvised shotguns, 123 ammunitions of various caliber, 20 empty gun magazines, a bandolier, explosives and detonators, blasting cap and detonating cords, and four high explosive rifle grenades, Ariola said.

The PMFC operatives, assisted by members of the Masinloc Municipal Police Station and the Provincial Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Canine Unit (PECU), also retrieved from the area some tactical medical kits and subversive documents, Ariola added.

The police official said the recovered firearms and ammunition are now under the custody of the 1^st PMFC, while the explosives are with the ZPPO’s PECU.

Ariola also thanked the former rebel for providing information about the arms cache, adding that the ZPPO “is open to those who want to surrender and start a new life.”

The Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police had reported a waning number of Communist insurgents in Central Luzon, citing the effectiveness of peace initiatives by the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC).

Last April, the Police Regional Office 3 said a total of 115 members and supporters of the rebel movement in Central Luzon surrendered to authorities at Camp Olivas in Pampanga. ▲

PHOTO: Operatives from the Zambales PNP’s 1st Provincial Mobile Force Company inventory items of an arms cache believed to be buried by rebels at Sitio Buri in Masinloc, Zambales. (ZPPO photo)