Top NPA leader in Mindanao killed in Butuan clash, says military

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Myrna Sularte, known as 'Maria Malaya,' served as the secretary of the NPA-Northeastern Mindanao Regional Committee and a member of the political bureau of the Communist Party of the Philippines

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – Government troops killed the highest-ranking official of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) known in Mindanao in a fierce encounter in Butuan City in the Caraga region on Wednesday, February 12.

The military confirmed the death of Myrna Sularte, who used the nom de guerre “Maria Malaya,” during an encounter in an outlying village in Butuan. 

Sularte was the widow and successor of rebel leader Jorge Madlos a.k.a. Ka Paris, erstwhile NPA leader and highest-ranking National Democratic Front (NDF) official in Mindanao, who was killed in a neighboring Northern Mindanao region a few years back.

Brigadier General Michele Anayron, commander of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, said Sularte was killed in a clash with soldiers from the 30th Infantry Battalion at about 1:20 pm Wednesday in Sitio Tagulahi, Barangay Pianing, 13.8 kilometers from downtown Butuan.

Anayron said former NPA rebels, brought to the encounter site, identified Sularte by her distinctive features – missing front teeth and stark white hair – confirming her death.

“By all indications, the body was that of Sularte,” Anayron said.

Sularte had been hunted by the military across the Caraga region after the killing of her husband, Madlos, in Bukidnon in October 2021, according to the 4ID public information office.

Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Garello, 4th ID spokesperson, said Sularte was the secretary of the NPA-Northeastern Mindanao Regional Committee and a member of the political bureau of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

Garello said a string of criminal cases – including multiple murder, double homicide, kidnapping, and frustrated murder – had been filed against Sularte in various courts in the Caraga region.

“We have finally brought an end to the reign of terror in Caraga, led by Malaya, one of the wanted NPA commanders in the country,” Anayron said.

Anayron said Sularte was the lone casualty from a 15-man NPA unit encountered in the rural village in Butuan.

Before that clash, the NPA group led by Sularte had engaged in a series of encounters with soldiers early Wednesday morning.

Anayron said at least five Army combat teams, each composed of 10 soldiers, pursued the rebels as they tried to escape the military dragnet.

In 2022, soldiers from the 8th Infantry Battalion also killed the son of Madlos and Sularte, Vincent Isagani Madlos, in an encounter in Barangay Kapitan Bayong, Impasug-ong town in Bukidnon. According to the military, Vincent Isagani was the head of the National Communications Bureau of the NPA. – Rappler.com