Two-hour gun battle erupts between police, NPA rebels in Masbate

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 28): Two-hour gun battle erupts between police, NPA rebels in Masbate

A two-and-half hour hostilities erupted on Saturday between police forces and the communist rebels in Barangay Cantorna, a remote village in San Jacinto town in Masbate, a police officer of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Bicol said Monday.

Members of the PNP 5th Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB), while responding to a call about sighting of New People’s Army (NPA) rebels, engaged the group in a running gun battle that started at about 2 p.m. and ended at around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, said Supt. Renato Bataller, PNP Bicol spokesperson. Bataller said nobody from the police force was hurt during the skirmish in Sitio Kapatagan, Barangay Cantorna, San Jacinto town, while the NPA rebels fled towards Sitio Dao, a neighboring zone in the said village.

The RPSB 2nd Manuever Company led by Police Inspector Nicolas Malipot, Company Commander, set up a blocking force after receiving an information that another group of RPSB encountered a group of NPA in the said village. The police blocking force then engaged in a fire fight the undetermined number of NPA belonging to the Jose Rapsing Command operating in the island province of Masbate. San Jacinto is among the 14 towns in Masbate considered as election hot spots due to the presence of NPA rebels.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=491626