A community health worker accused of being a member of the New People's Army was killed in an encounter in Oriental Mindoro, the military said Friday.
The fatality, identified as Lorelyn Saligumba who goes by the alias Fara died after a 10-minute firefight at Barangay Mangangan I in Baco town Thursday afternoon, the Army's 2nd Infantry Division said in a statement.
It said Saligumba was the political instructor of members of the New People's Army under KLG ICM’s Platoon Dos, noting that she was also part of the "Morong 43."
The "Morong 43" is composed of health workers who were arrested in 2010 and detained for 10 months until then President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III dropped the charges against them for illegal possession of firearms and explosives in time for Human Rights Day.
The health workers said they were blindfolded and tied up while under interrogation. The Ombudsman dropped the torture charges against soldiers and police officers involved in the case.
READ: Sandiganbayan clears soldiers, policemen in ‘Morong 43’ case
Major General Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr., Commander of the 2nd Infantry Division, said Friday that Saligumba's death "justifies" the law enforcement operations in Morong, Rizal 10 years ago.
“It only proves the government’s position then that they were NPA terrorists and not the health workers which NPA-affiliated organizations said they were in their propaganda campaign during that time," Burgos said in a statement.
The military said government forces conducted Thursday's operations following reports that 10 NPA rebels were extorting from the residents. A firearm and improvised explosive device were recovered from the site of the encounter.
Meanwhile, a 12-year-old boy who was caught in the crossfire was grazed by a bullet on his upper right leg but is now in stable condition, the military said. The family was given financial assistance.
Another NPA leader, Elmar Murillo, was killed in an earlier encounter in Occidental Mindoro on Sunday. His remains have been turned over to his family. Saligumba's remains, on the other hand, will be transported to a funeral parlor pending the claim of relatives.
Pursuit operations are ongoing against the remaining rebels, the military said. Authorities are validating information that some of them were wounded.
The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines which has waged a five-decade insurgency.
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