NPA rebel killed in clash in southern Negros

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 19, 2022): NPA rebel killed in clash in southern Negros (By Nanette Guadalquiver)

A Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) rebel was killed during an encounter with troops of the Philippine Army’s 15th Infantry Battalion (15IB) in the hinterlands of Cauayan town in southern Negros Occidental on Tuesday.

Capt. Kim Apitong, public affairs officer-in-charge of the 3rd Infantry Division, said the troops engaged some 10 NPA fighters in Sitio Bajay, Barangay Caliling around 6:20 a.m.

After the encounter, the soldiers found the body of the still-unidentified rebel and recovered a high-powered firearm.

The encounter in Cauayan came after a series of recent clashes in the remote villages of the nearby Himamaylan City, which also resulted in the deaths of several cadres under the NPA’s Central Negros Front 2.

Among the latest casualties were couple Elbert and Jessa Quillano, who died in a clash with soldiers in the Barangay Buenavista last April 1.

Elbert was the leader of Sentro de Grabidad Platoon, and deputy secretary of Central Negros Front 2, while Jessa was the platoon’s medical officer.

In September last year, four NPA rebels from the Southwest Front died while two others were injured following an encounter with troops of the Philippine National Police 6th Special Action Force Battalion in Cauayan’s neighboring Ilog town.

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 (NDF) 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/1172487