Five alleged New People’s Army (NPA) rebels were killed and high powered firearms were recovered in a series of armed encounters with 15th Infantry Battalion soldiers in the hinterlands of in Cauayan, Negros Occidental, on Saturday, May 16.
The encounters between the 15th Infantry Battalion soldiers and about 10 alleged remnants of the NPA’s South-West Front, Komiteng-Rehiyon Negros, occurred at the tri-boundary of barangays Abaca, Man-uling, and Poblacion.
Three of the casualties have been identified as Rolando Dantes, commander of the front operational command of the NPA’s South-West Front, Komiteng-Rehiyon Negros, and Robert Casipong and Gilbert Tingson, Brig. Gen. Jason Jumawan, commander of the Philippine Army’s 302nd Infantry Brigade, said.
There were no casualties or injuries reported on the government side.
Recovered from the encounter site were an M-14 rifle, an M-60 machine gun, four M-6 rifles, an M203 grenade launcher, a grenade, and four backpacks with personal belongings, the 302nd IB reported.
Jumawan said the clash reflected the “continued collapse” of communist rebel formations in Negros.
Military operations remain focused on protecting civilians and preventing rebel remnants from re-establishing influence in vulnerable communities, Jumawan said.
He renewed the call for remaining rebels to surrender and avail themselves of government reintegration programs.
Following the encounter, Cauayan police and the 3rd Maneuver Company of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion-Negros Island Region conducted a checkpoint in Brgy. Man-uling.
Police also proceeded to Cauayan District Hospital to check for possible victims related to the incident.*
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