NPA killed, gun seized in clash with gov't troops in Negros

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 10, 2023): NPA killed, gun seized in clash with gov't troops in Negros (By Mary Judaline Partlow)

ARMED ENCOUNTER. A member of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) was killed in a clash with Army soldiers in Barangay Trinidad, Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental province on Tuesday (Jan. 10, 2023). The body of the slain rebel was recovered, together with a short firearm, subversive documents and personal belongings (shown in photo) following the clash. (Photo courtesy of the 62IB/Philippine Army)

DUMAGUETE CITY – A member of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) was killed in an encounter with troops of the Philippine Army’s 62nd Infantry Battalion (62IB) in Barangay Trinidad, Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental province on Tuesday morning.

Lt. Col. William Pesase, 62IB commanding officer, told the Philippine News Agency in an interview that his troops acted on civilian information that armed men were monitored in the vicinity of Sitio Banderahan in Barangay Trinidad “conducting extortion activities and harassing residents in the area”.

At around 7 a.m., the responding soldiers engaged an estimated five NPA members in a five-minute gunfight in Sitio Banderahan, which sits on the boundary of Barangays Trinidad and Budlasan, he said.

The rebels fled afterward, leaving behind the body of their slain companion, he added.

The soldiers also recovered from the slain NPA member a .45-caliber pistol with ammunition.

Pesase said the armed NPA group belongs to the Central Negros 1 guerilla front of the Komiteng Rehiyon Negros, Cebu, Bohol and Siquijor (KR-NCBS).

“This is the same group whose members figured in previous clashes with government troops in Guihulngan and nearby areas late last year,” he said.

Members of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, the local police, and Army troops have recovered the body of the deceased rebel from the mountain barangay and will be bringing it to a funeral parlor in the city proper.

His identity has yet to be established.

Pesase reiterated his call to the remaining members of the NPA to give up the protracted war and surrender so they can avail of the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP).

“Otherwise, they will suffer the same fate as their fallen companions because we will continue with our relentless campaign against the communist insurgency,” he said.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1192400