Two more Red rebels slain in Philippine clashes

From The Gulf Today (Dec 2): Two more Red rebels slain in Philippine clashes

Clashes between government forces and members of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) continued to intensify, resulting in the killing of two more insurgents and the wounding of two others, the military reported on Friday.

Colonel Roberto Ancon, an Army brigade commander, said the two rebels were slain in an encounter with a team of soldiers who were on security patrol in the town of Sarangani, Mindanao on Friday morning.

On the other hand, police said two NPA insurgents were wounded in a clash also on Friday morning in the town of Albuera, Leyte in the Visayas in Central Philippines.

The clashes indicated the intensification of shootouts with the rebels following the order of the National Democratic Front (NDF) for more frequent attacks following President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte’s cancellation of their formal peace talks.

In announcing the cancellation, Duterte, likewise, ordered government forces to “shoot on sight” armed NPA insurgents who refuse to surrender and pose a threat to their lives.

“So, if there is an armed NPA there or terrorist, if he’s holding a firearm — shoot,” Duterte ordered.

The NDF is the political arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed component the NPA, which represented them in the peace talks hosted by Oslo, Norway as the third party facilitator.

On Tuesday, the military reported the killing of 15 NPA members including five women in a running gun battle involving two “barangay” (villages) in the town of Nasugbu, Batangas province in Southern Luzon.

Major General Rhoderick Parayno, an Army infantry division chief, disclosed that one of the five women was a student of the state-owned University of the Philippines

The student and other youngsters killed were in an “immersion programme” or “tour of duty to prepare fresh NPA recruits on the rigors of living dangerous lives,” Parayno explained.

Duterte said he cancelled the peace talks due to unabated NPA attacks on civilian establishments as well as military and police outposts even while the government and their representatives were talking peace in Norway.

Duterte also denounced the rebels for engaging in extortion activities under the guise of demanding payment of “revolutionary taxes” particularly from mining firms and other business establishments.

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