3 reds die in N. Luzon clashes

From the Manila Bulletin (Jun 3): 3 reds die in N. Luzon clashes

Narvacan, Ilocos Sur/CAMP CRAME, Quezon City — At least three communist rebels were killed in separate clashes in the provinces of Abra, Ifugao and Compostela Valley since Thursday with a number of rebel firearms seized by government forces, the police and military reported yesterday.

Superintendent Dave Limmong, spokesman of the Police Regional Office in the Cordillera Administrative Region (PRO-CAR), said the latest encounter broke out in Barangay Butac in Aguinaldo town, Ifugao around 5:30 a.m. Sunday and resulted in the death of at least one communist rebel.

The clash was still ongoing as of press time yesterday afternoon with elements of the Philippine Army’s 54th Infantry Battalion (54IB) collecting three M16 rifles – one mounted with a grenade launcher – on the battleground.

The rebels, numbering about 20, are under the command of one Artos Talastas, also known as “Ka Libre” and “Ka Layden,” of the Kilusang Larangang Guerilla (KLG) “Marko.”

“During the exchange of gun fire; our troops outpowered the rebels prompted the latter to escape from the encounter site leaving a number of firearms and subversive documents,” said 1st Lieutenant Rowena Abayon, spokesperson of the army’s 5th Infantry Division (5ID).

In Abra, government troops shelled the location of a band of fleeing communist rebels to reinforce the ground troops running after them after the clash erupted on Thursday.

The bombs pounded a remote area in Sitio Alligang, Barangay Lat-ey in Malibcong town and killed at least one communist rebel. The fatality was confirmed by some commuters who spotted four rebels carrying a cadaver wrapped with a blanket near the boundary of Kalinga province, said Limmong.

“Our troops were dispatched in the area following the information they received from the civilians in the area about the presence of more or less 20 fully-armed men, who reportedly conducting extortion and violent activities,” said Colonel Danilo Domingo, commander of the army’s 41st Infantry Battalion (4IB).

The rebels are led by a certain “Ka Chico” and “Ka Bram,” he said.

In Compostela Valley, soldiers captured three communist rebels and also carried a cadaver of a New People’s Army (NPA) fighter from the area of a clash in Bvarangay Longganapan in Laak town on Saturday.

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