(image from https://www.philippinerevolution.info)
Communist rebels in Quezon province dismissed military claims they had lost 10 of fighters in a clash in General Nakar town Thursday, saying it was they who had inflicted multiple casualties on government troops who attacked a “peace consultation” with Dumagat tribesmen.
In Camarines Sur, rebels also accused government forces of killing a civilian and several wounding two others on the same day then described the incident as an encounter and the victims as guerrillas.
Both incidents happened the day after the New People’s Army marked its 48th founding anniversary and ahead of the fourth round of formal peace talks between the government and rebels in the Netherlands.
Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Brigadier General Restituto Padilla told media Friday that two soldiers were also killed in the Quezon clash between troops of the 80th Infantry Battalion and New People’s Army fighters in Sitio Pahimuan, Barangay Lumutan Thursday afternoon.
He added that two of the rebel casualties were women.
But Armando “Ka Mando” Jacinto, spokesman of the NPA’s Rosario Lodronio Rosal Command in the Sierra Madre said they had “effectively foiled the government soldiers’ attack” in an hour-long battle in which he claimed five troops were killed and one seriously wounded.
Jacinto said the rebels suffered no casualties and managed to seize a Baby Armalite rifle and backpacks “containing high value intelligence documents.”
He said before the clash, troops of the 80th IB had been “conducting operation(s) continuously in the mountain villages of Rizal province and North Quezon wreaking havoc on the lives and livelihood of farmers and Dumagat tribesmen.”
Jacinto claimed the rebels, on the hand, had suspended offensive operations in anticipation of the unilateral ceasefire the Communist Party of the Philippines had earlier said it would announce by March 31 and decided to celebrate the NPA anniversary consulting with the Dumagat.
However, after Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, the chief government negotiator, said Friday that the government “saw no reason” for a ceasefire, the rebel declaration was never made.
The rebel spokesman said the 80th IB deployed a company to attack them on learning of the consultation in Lumutan. However, he said they had been “warned beforehand by the people” of the approaching troops and were thus able to counter the attack.
In a separate statement, Michael Robredo, spokesman of the NPA’s Norben Gruta Command in Camarines Sur belied the statement of the 9th Infantry Division about a clash in Sitio Traktora, Barangay Bagong Silang, Sipocot town in which a guerrilla was supposedly killed.
“There was no NPA unit in the area at that time. There was no encounter,” Robredo said.
He said government troops responding to a report of rebel presence arrived in Traktora and “suddenly strafed civilians at the sitio’s waiting shed,” allegedly killed Renel Mirabeles and seriously wounding Joseph Sagario and Regie Loprandado
“They abducted another civilian, Erick Madrona, and accused him of being a member of the NPA,” he added.
Robredo said this was not the first time the military cooked up “fake news” of supposed clashes with the rebels and accused the 9th ID of “terrorizing civilians to mask their failure and inutility in defeating the NPA.”
http://interaksyon.com/article/138201/quezon-camsur-rebels-debunk-afp-claims-of-battlefield-victories
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