2 killed in Bais clash

From the Visayan Daily Star (Jul 5): 2 killed in Bais clash

A Philippine Army soldier and a suspected member of the New People’s Army were killed in an encounter in Sitio Sandana, Barangay Mansangaban, Bais City in Negros Oriental, at around 10 a.m. yesterday.

The soldier was identified as Pfc Marlon Lanes of Roxas City, and assigned with the 79th Infantry Battalion. The suspected rebel fatality remains unidentified, and Army sources described him as young, with long hair, and a fair complexion.

Initial report reaching the 302nd Infantry Brigade of the PA said troopers of the 79th IB engaged around 15 armed men, believed to be members of the Komiteng Rehiyon Sentral Bisayas-South East Front.

Lt. Col. Christopher Estella, deputy brigade commander, said they are trying to determine whether insurgents from the other part of the island had merged with this group during the encounter.

Troops of the 79th and 20th IB were conducting pursuit operations of alleged members of the SEF’s Sentro de Gravidad platoon, allegedly led by a certain Domingo Compoc.

Estella said some residents informed the Brigade about the presence of armed men going around their barangay and asking for food, and causing worry to the community.

He said the clash is an indicator that the rebels are now on the run and the encounter site in Mansangaban was just a temporary harbor area for the NPA.

He noted that about 15 alleged remnants of the SEF, are moving from their usual bases in the southern part of the province, like Sta. Catalina, to the central part of Negros Oriental.

Estella said this can be seen in the pattern of encounters recently, where the clash sites were no longer in Sta. Catalina but in the adjacent or boundary areas of Pamplona and Tanjay City and, this time, Bais City.

He added that soldiers recovered around 15 ponchos, backpacks, personal belongings and documents from the encounter site, and saw traces of blood on the escape route of the suspected insurgents.

This is the second encounter between the rebels and government forces after Negros Oriental was declared as conflict manageable and development ready on May 7.

A group of police personnel from the Regional Public Safety Battalion and Scene of the Crime Operatives were deployed to aid the Army in post-encounter operations.

http://www.visayandailystar.com/2014/July/05/negor1.htm