An alleged New People’s Army member was killed in a clash with 62nd Infantry Battalion soldiers in Sitio Arum, Brgy. Macagahay, Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental, Thursday, November 5.
The brief battle resulted in the death of Rio Jacaba, while two of his companions fled in different directions, Capt. Kelvin Bayaban, Army 3rd Infantry Division civil military operations officer, said today, November 6.
The 62nd Infantry Battalion soldiers responded to a report from Macagahay residents of the presence of suspicious looking persons believed to be NPA rebels in their barangay, he said.
The firefight resulted in the recovery of a .45 caliber Colt MK IV pistol, a holster, spent cartridges of a .45 caliber pistol and subversive documents believed to be used during the conduct of “mass work” in the area, Bayaban said.
Moises Padilla policemen led by PSgt. Rocky Tonog conducted a scene of crime investigation and retrieved the body of the slain rebel for proper disposition, he added.
“With the Moises Padilla Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict we will unify and harmonize our peace and development efforts, especially with the different stakeholders, to end the local communist armed conflict in Moises Padilla,” Col. Inocencio Pasaporte, 303rd Brigade commander, said.
He thanked the Macagahay residents for reporting the presence of the NPA rebels in their barangay, and called on the remaining insurgents in central Negros to abandon their armed struggle and return to the folds of the law.*