Five foreign individuals on Sunday were reportedly spotted visiting members of one of the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front’s (CPP-NDF) so-called “legal fronts” in a remote village in Trinidad town.

Earlier reports indicated that the visiting group was comprised of 30 persons, but both police and military personnel were unable to verify the information.

According to Trinidad police chief Sr. Insp. Marcos Lopez, a leader of the Trinidad-Talibon Integrated Farmers Association (TTIFA) identified as Beloy Tabada told police that five men from Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, India and Indonesia visited their group.

The TIFFA is under the Hugpong sa Mag-uumang Bol-anon-Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (HUMABOL-KMP), a left-leaning organization.

Tabada told authorities that the foreigners visited their camp to observe their farming methods.

The foreign visitors arrived on Sunday and left early on Monday, Tabada said without elaborating on further details.

According to Lopez, there was no formal notification extended to the local government unit of Trinidad or to Barangay San Vicente officials regarding the arrival of the foreign nationals.

Authorities including police and military were also unable to confirm the number of visitors as they were barred from entering the TTIFA-Humabol’s compound.

Lopez noted that the town remained peaceful throughout the purported stay of the foreign nationals.

However, authorities have not yet obtained information regarding the current whereabouts of the foreign visitors. (A. Doydora)