Machine gun, sniper rifle recovered from Binalbagan gun battle

From the Visayan Daily Star (Oct 7, 2023): Machine gun, sniper rifle recovered from Binalbagan gun battle (By GILBERT P. BAYORAN)

The Army’s 62nd Infantry Battalion yesterday recovered high powered guns and assorted ammunition, among other war materials, following an encounter with New People’s Army rebels in Sitio Capaklan, Brgy. Santol, Binalbagan, Negros Occidental.

1Lt. Mary Liza Joy de Guzman, 62nd Infantry Battalion Civil Military Operations officer, disclosed that Army soldiers responded to reports of civilians on the presence of armed rebels in their community.

De Guzman said the firefight lasted about five minutes, after which the rebels scampered in various directions, leaving behind an M60 general purpose machine gun with a link of ammunition, a caliber .30 bolt action sniper rifle with ammunition, a rifle grenade, three backpacks containing medical paraphernalia, assorted bullets, subversive documents, and personal belongings.

She added that the 10 armed NPA rebels encountered by 62IB soldiers are believed to be members of the composite units of the Regional Striking Force (RSF) and remnants of the Central Negros 1, both under the Komiteng Rehiyonal Negros/Cebu/Bohol.

Aside from the firearms and explosives, bloodstains were also discovered at the encounter site and along the rebels’ withdrawal routes.

On October 1, two M653 assault rifles with six magazines containing ammunition, a link of 7.62mm ammunition, an improvised explosive device, three rifle grenades, and other war materials were also recovered by the 94th Infantry Battalion soldiers, following an encounter in Brgy. Buenavista, Himamaylan City.

Furthermore, six NPA rebels also died, while several firearms were recovered by Army soldiers as a result of an encounter in Brgy. Tabugon, Kabankalan City, on September 21.

In a statement, Lt Col. William Pesase, 62IB commander, lauded the efforts of the barangay residents in reporting the presence of rebels in their village, which led to the successful recovery of high powered firearms. No 62IB soldiers were injured in the armed skirmishes, according to the Philippine Army.

Pesase reiterated his call on the NPA remnants, especially those fleeing injured rebels to surrender, stressing that the 62IB will not stop hunting them down.*

https://visayandailystar.com/machine-gun-sniper-rifle-recovered-from-binalbagan-gun-battle/