Joint Army-PNP forces thwart terror attacks, wound NPA rebels in Bukidnon clash

From the Philippine Information Agency (Feb 22): Joint Army-PNP forces thwart terror attacks, wound NPA rebels in Bukidnon clash

The Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Battalion (8thIB) on Friday thwarted the New Peoples Army’s (NPA) bombing attempt at the roadside where workers are toiling for the government’s road-concreting project at Brgy. Iba, Cabanglasan, Bukidnon.

In a spot report, at around 1:30 p.m, February 19, the government troops encountered eight armed men believed to be NPA bandits coming from SDG Dario of Section Committee 89 of the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee under Noel Gabute alias CESAR.

The fire fight lasted for about an hour until the communist rebels fled and scampered to different directions bringing along with them their wounded comrades showing globs of blood splotched along their escape routes.

Casualties on the rebels’ side are still being determined while government troops stayed unharmed during the clash.

Recovered from the scene were more than 100 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition, 300 meters detonating wire, one handheld radio, four backpacks and several subversive documents.

Lt. Col. Lennon G. Babilonia, 8thIB Commanding Officer, said this happened after the soldiers responded to residents’ reports on the presence of unidentified armed men who were seen laying an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) along the road where a government road-concreting project is located.

Meanwhile, troops from the Philippine National Police’s Public Safety Company of Bukidnon who are supporting the operations of the 8th Infantry Battalion also clashed with the retreating NPA rebels around 2:00 pm of that same day in KM 25 area, Brgy. Iba, Cabanglasan, Bukidnon.

No casualties were reported on the government side while casualties are undetermined on the rebels' side.

In his message, Lt. Col. Lennon G. Babilonia, Commanding Officer of the 8th Infantry Battalion of the Army's 4th Infantry Division, thanked and commended the brave local residents who reported the presence of the rebels in the area.

He said the incident portrayed the value of cooperation and collaboration of the security forces and the peace-loving people of Bukidnon in an effort to thwart and preempt terroristic plans of various armed groups who resorted to banditry such as the NPA.

"We have received reports that NPA bandits will continue to resort to bombings and burning of properties in order to fuel their extortion activities. There is an on going road-concreting project of the government and we believe that these rebels were out to burn heavy equipment in the construction site. Thanks to the vigilance and to the prompt reporting of the local residents in the area, who are now aware of the ill motives of the NPA rebels, that we were given the chance to perform our job of preempting violent NPA plans such as this one,” he said.

The Philippine Army also lauded the PNP counterparts for the support in the successful operation and for always seeing to it that working together hand in hand to ensure security for communities is the best way to defeat any enemy.

“Truly, it is in the spirit of Bayanihan that we can achieve great tasks. We should always shun violence to solve our country's problems. We should collaborate with one another to address the root causes of conflict to achieve just and lasting peace," Lt. Col. Babilonia said.

http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/1501456109272/joint-army-pnp-forces-thwart-terror-attacks-wound-npa-rebels-in-bukidnon-clash