A belated military report received in Manila indicated that fighting broke out between government troops and communist guerillas on Wednesday morning in a remote village at Claveria town in Misamis Oriental.
The report reaching Camp Aguinaldo on Saturday informed military general headquarters that the encounter took place at around 10am Wednesday at Sitio Ilaja in Brgy. Aposkahoy.
Troops from the Philippine Army's 58th Infantry Battalion (IB) reportedly encountered 30 armed men believed to belong to the Sentro De Gravidad unit of the New People's Army (NPA) guerilla front 4B, part of the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee.
Capt. Joe Patrick Martinez, spokesman of the army's 4th Infantry Division (ID), reported that this rebel front is believed headed by a certain Marvin Lutawan (nom de guerre Budo), operating in the hinter villages of Claveria, Balingasag and Gingoog City, all in Misamis Oriental.
Martinez said that a firefight between troops of the 58th IB and the rebels lasting for about 30 minutes resulted in one rebel dead and the rest escaping from the encounter site.
The government forces recovered the remains of the still unidentified rebel his firearm, an M-16 rifle with an attached M-203 grenade launcher.
Martinez said that the 58th IB forms part of the ongoing pursuit operations launched by the 403rd Infantry Brigade, dubbed as the "peace maker" against a group of communist guerrillas behind the attack of Brgy. Alagatan of Gingoog City.
That rebel attack last July resulted in the death of one soldier and the abduction of another, and the wounding of two innocent civilians.
About a week after that incident, unarmed and off-duty government militiamen were reportedly killed by the same rebel group after they attacked a militia patrol base in Brgy. Hindangon in Gingoog City last July 19.
The commander of the 403rd Infantry Brigade, Colonel Jesse Alvarez said civilians played a part in relaying information about the locations of the withdrawing NPA. "We will continue our pursuit operations until the NPA can no longer pose a threat to our communities, more so that Claveria is known as the food basket of Northern Mindanao."
Major General Oscar Lactao, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, remarked: "Another life has been wasted due to the neglect and inhumane practices of the NPA ... For the families of these NPA, we are sorry for your loss. They were all victims of deceptions of the NPA leaders in Misamis Oriental and their deceptive strategy of recruiting indigenous people to join this nonsense armed struggle. Your sons and daughters should have been alive if the NPA cadres in Misamis Oriental allowed them to live and enjoy normal lives."
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/116077/army-reports-1-rebel-killed-in-one-rebel-killed-in-claveria-encounter
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