Saturday, January 20, 2024

Negrense soldier slain in Iloilo encounter

From the Visayan Daily Star (Jan 21, 2024): Negrense soldier slain in Iloilo encounter (By GILBERT P. BAYORAN)


SOCO operatives of the PNP retrieved the cadavers of two suspected NPA rebels from an encounter site in Brgy. Sag-ang, La Castellana, Negros Occidental.* PA photo

A Negrense soldier died in a gun battle with New People’s Army rebels in Iloilo, while the three rebels that died in separate gunbattles in Negros Island have been identified.

PFC Rodelo Alfanza, of Sagay City, Negros Occidental, died following an encounter on January 17 with about 15 NPA rebels in Brgy. Igpaho, Tubongan, Iloilo.


Alfanza, a member of the Army’s 61st Infantry Battalion, succumbed to a gunshot injury on the neck. He was declared dead on arrival at a hospital in Iloilo, where he and an injured companion were treated, according to a statement issued by the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division.

In a statement, Maj. Gen. Marion Sison, 3ID commander, said that PFC Alfanza, 30, sacrificed his life to bring an end to the decades-long insurgency problem in Panay Island.

On the other hand, the three NPA rebels, who are remnants of the Central Negros 1 guerilla front and South East Front of the Komiteng Rehiyonal Negros/Cebu/Bohol/Siquijor, have been identified.

Lt. Col. J Jay Javines, 3ID Civil Military Operations officer, identified the two NPA rebel remnants killed in an encounter with 62nd Infantry Battalion on Jan. 17 in Brgy. Sag ang, La Castellana, as Dionesio Baloy, 67, of Brgy. Linantuyan, and Bernard Torres Sr., 56, of Brgy. Buenavista, all in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental.

In a statement, the NPA Apolinario Gatmaitan Command disowned Torres and Baloy as their members, insisting that there was no encounter in La Castellana.

The encounter in Brgy. Sag-ang, La Castellana, as reported by the 62IB, yielded an AR15 assault rifle, a .45 caliber pistol, and a homemade 12-gauge shotgun, among other war materials and personal belongings.


Javines said the cadavers of Baloy and Borres were turned over to their respective families, as facilitated by the 62IB, La Castellana municipal government and the Guihulngan City Task Force ELCAC.

He also identified the slain rebel in the encounter on Jan. 19, in Santa Catalina, Negros Oriental, as Edmar Pat Solano, a remnant of the dismantled South East Front.

Soldiers of the 11th Infantry Battalion recovered an M16 assault rifle, three magazines of an AK 47 assault rifle, and M203 grenade launcher ammunition.*

https://visayandailystar.com/negrense-soldier-slain-in-iloilo-encounter/

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