NPA in Visayas join farmers planting. SCREENGRAB
Three persons were killed in two separate rebel attacks by the New People’s Army in Quezon province and in
In Atimonan, Quezon, a soldier and a suspected rebel were killed
while four other soldiers were wounded after a more than 10 NPA rebels attacked
a combat patrol operation of the 85th Infantry Battalion Sunday afternoon,
Southern Luzon Command (SOLCOM) chief Lieutenant General Ricardo Visaya said
Monday.
Visayas said the attack resulted in almost two hours of
fierce firefight that started at round 4:45 p.m. in Sitio Carinay in Barangay
Villa Ibaba.
“Our soldiers composed only of one squad later gained the
upper hand in the combat that forced the rebels to withdraw leaving behind a
dead comrade with his M16 rifle, bandoloer, and personal things,” Visaya said.
Authorities were still trying to identify the dead rebel.
Visaya identified the dead soldier as Corporal Michael S.
Lubian.
Those wounded were Privates First Class Jeffrey C. Morales,
Isabelo M. Pascua, Louie M. Tapiador, and Ronel L. Diorda.
On July 8, three NPA rebels were killed in an encounter with
the 85IB in Mauban, Quezon.
According to 201st Infantry Briagade commander Colonel
Rhoderick Parayno, the combat patrol operation was responding to a sighting of
NPA rebels in the area.
There were also reports that the dead rebel, as claimed by
the military, was actually a civilian.
“We launched an operation to counter tactical offensives of
the NPA who are desperate to recover lost mass bases,” said Parayno.
He also dismissed reports that the NPA attack was connected
with the proposed One Energy Power Plant located in the said place.
“Part of their recovery effort is to sow fear to the
community and extort businessmen and big companies. We will not allow this
to happen,” he said.
In Gingoog City, about 30 NPA rebels killed a soldier,
wounded three others, including two civilians, while they abducted another
soldier, Captain Alberto Caber, public affairs chief of the Eastern Mindanao
Command (Eastmincom), said Monday.
Apparently, the rebels were in the area for “organizing”
when their activity was tipped off by some civilians to the 58th Infantry
Battalion that immediately launched a combat operation.
The soldiers were able to enter the area where the rebels
were staying; fighting ensued at around 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Barangay
Alagatan.
According to Caber, the rebels belonged to the North Central
Mindanao Regional Committee of the NPA.
During the firefight, one soldier was killed and another one
was wounded.
Caber said two civilians, one of them a minor, was caught in
the crossfire.
But Caber alleged that the rebels indiscriminately fired at
civilians as they escaped.
He, however, could not give details how one of the soldiers
was captured by the rebels in the 20-minute encounter.
“Some civilians together with the abducted soldier were used
as human shield by the NPA bandits during their escape. It was also reported by
the villagers that the said soldier was kicked and dragged by the [rebels] as
they were calling other soldiers to surrender during the firefight,” he said.
Caber said he has yet to get names of the casualties
including the soldier who was now a “prisoner of war” by the NPA.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/114083/3-killed-in-2-npa-rebel-attacks-in-quezon-province-gingoog-city
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