The Army’s 62nd Infantry (Unifier) Battalion seized two high-powered firearms in a clash with about 10 New People’s Army rebels at Sitio Capaklan, Barangay Santol, Binalbagan in Negros Occidental on Friday, October 6.
The firefight lasted for five minutes and the NPA rebels are believed “to have sustained an undetermined number of casualties, as evident from the heavy bloodstains discovered along their withdrawal route”, 1Lt. Mary Liza Joy de Guzman, 62 IB civil military operations officer, said.
Seized from the encounter were a M-60 general purpose machine gun, .30 caliber Bolt action sniper rifle, rifle grenade, three backpacks, medical paraphernalia, assorted ammunitions, subversive documents, and personal belongings, she said.
The rebels who figured in the encounter were members of the NPA Central Negros 1 and Regional Striking Force of the Komiteng-Rehiyon Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor, de Guzman added.
Maj. Gen. Marion Sison, 3rd Infantry Division commander, renewed his call for the remaining rebels “to rejoin the lawful path and avail themselves of the government’s reintegration program”.
“Your futile struggle against our government will bring nothing but suffering and deaths,” Sison told the rebels.
“Undeniably, the Negrenses have grown weary of the CPP-NPA terrorists’ brutality, prompting them to provide information on their whereabouts…It cannot be over-emphasized that the increasing vigilance of our communities strongly indicates that the communist terror group is losing popular support and their influence is dwindling,” Sison added.*