ILOILO CITY — A suspected New People’s Army (NPA) fighter died while seven others were captured during a weekend clash with the Philippine Army’s 61st Infantry Battalion (61 IB) in Miag-ao town, Iloilo province.
Lt. Col. Joel Benedict, 61 IB commander, said the encounter broke out late Saturday morning in Cabalaunan village.
Government troops went to check after receiving tips from civilians that an NPA platoon was temporarily in the area conducting alleged training of new recruits. A 35-minute firefight occurred and lasted until majority of the 40 NPA rebels fled.
The dead NPA rebel has yet to be identified, but one of those captured was a 14-year-old boy.
“NPA rebels are taking advantage of the current crisis and conducted massive recruitment and training even among minors,” noted Batara.
After the rebels fled, government troops recovered an M1 Garand rifle, a KG9 sub-machine gun, a .45-caliber pistol, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), medical paraphernalia, and subversive documents.
Meanwhile, the hierarchy of the 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) assured that government troops will continue to protect the populace in far-flung areas even despite some have been utilized in the government’s response to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
“We want to assure the people of Western and Central Visayas that we will stop at nothing just to make sure that we are able to perform our mandate of protecting our people from the threats posed by the NPA even as we face extraordinary tasks during this COVID-19 pandemic,” said Maj. Gen. Eric Vinoya, 3ID commander. (Tara Yap)