A brief firefight between the government troops and the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels occurred in a remote village in Davao Occidental, Tuesday dawn where a soldier was killed and another one wounded.
The encounter happened at around 4:30 a.m. in Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental killing private first class (PFC) Harold Sacramento and wounding PFC Johnny Caballero, both member of the Army’s 73rd Infantry Battalion.
Military sources revealed that NPA members attacked the government soldiers led by Lt. Emmanuel Capisanan in Barangay Culaman, Jose Abad Santos. Joint operatives of the Philippine Army and the Philippine National Police are conducting a hot pursuit operation against the rebels.
The incident happened as Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff General Gregorio Pio Catapang issued a statement stating that the NPAs would be fully neutralized by 2015.
Catapang said, “I think we have the momentum to declare the country next year by the time I retire as peaceful and ready for development.”
Catapang added that NPA fighters were already operating in smaller numbers and estimated that the rebels have only 2,000 active members.
The AFP chief of staff added that the NPAs failed to regain their strength way back during Martial Law years where the rebels numbered to some 25,000.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=680200
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