2 NPA rebels killed in Negros encounter identified

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 28, 2022): 2 NPA rebels killed in Negros encounter identified (By Nanette Guadalquiver)

FATALITIES. The cadavers of the two Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army rebels killed during a clash with troops of the Philippine Army’s 94th Infantry Battalion in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental on March 26, 2022. As of Monday (March 28), their bodies were already brought to a funeral parlor. (Photo courtesy of 303rd Infantry Brigade, Philippine Army)

The identities of the two Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) rebels killed during a clash with troops of the Philippine Army’s 94th Infantry Battalion (94IB) in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental over the weekend have been confirmed by the police.

According to the progress report of Himamaylan City Police Station, Barangay Carabalan councilman Rochie Sabanal identified the fatalities as Arnulfo Sabanal, 41, and Jayson Sabanal, 30, both residents of Purok Lunoy in Sitio Cunalom.

As of Monday, the remains of the two, who are believed to be siblings, were still in a local funeral parlor, the 94IB said.

In a statement, Brig. Gen. Inocencio Pasaporte, commander of 303rd Infantry Brigade, commended the 94IB troops for their successful encounters with the NPA rebels in Himamaylan City.

“We will not give them breathing space as they continuously refuse to heed our call to surrender, abandon the life of violence and embrace the path of peace,” he said.

The two fatalities were among those who engaged the soldiers conducting a pursuit operation in the afternoon of March 26.

On March 25, the 94IB troops also clashed with the rebels twice in the same area that led them to seize the NPA hideout, where they recovered firearms, explosives, mobile phones, rice supply and suspected shabu, among others.

The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

The National Democratic Front has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1170801