Two alleged New People’s Army rebels were killed and firearms were seized in an encounter with the Philippine Army’s 62nd Infantry (Unifier) Battalion at Hacienda Gomez, Brgy Sag-ang, La Castellana, Negros Occidental, Wednesday, January 17, the 62IB reported.
The 62IB soldiers encountered five remnants of the NPA’s Central Negros 1 after they received a report from a civilian of the rebels’ extortion and attempted recruitment activities in the area, Lt. Mary Liza Joy de Guzman, 62IB Civil-Military Operations Officer, said.
The firefight lasted for about three minutes after which the rebels withdrew towards the northwest direction based on the bloodstains left in the area, she said.
The bodies of two alleged NPA members abandoned by their comrades were recovered in the area, she added.
Also recovered at the encounter site were an AR15 rifle, homemade shotgun, .45 caliber pistol, magazines with serviceable ammunition, medical paraphernalia, two backpacks, subversive documents, and personal belongings, de Guzman said.
The NPA remnants fled to La Castellana due to numerous losses in their previous lairs in the mountainous areas of Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, and Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental, she said.
The 62IB is calling on the fleeing rebels to voluntarily surrender, especially those wounded so they can be given proper medical treatment, de Guzman said.
The government forces are giving them a chance to return to the fold of the law for them to peacefully join their families and avail of the benefits from the Enhanced Comprehensive Integration Program (ECLIP), or else they will suffer the same fate as their comrades, she added.
The 62IB troopers will tirelessly hunt the remaining CN1 members to ensure that peace will be sustained in Central Negros, she said.*