At least one soldier died and another wounded as the
Philippine Army’s 39th Infantry Brigade (IB) patrol team and the New People’s
Army (NPA) rebels engaged in a firefight in the hinterland of Sitio Tubison,
Barangay Astorga, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur early morning on Tuesday.
The spokesperson of the 39IB, Capt. Danny Tapang, said an
encounter ensued at 5:15 a.m. resulting to one injury and one casualty from the
troopers' side.
As of this posting, the names of the casualties are still
withheld.
Tapang said they are still investigating further and
conducting hot pursuit against the rebels.
The operation is taking place while Mayor Rodrigo Duterte
was about to fetch a soldier held captive by the NPA in North
Cotabato . Duterte was facilitating the release of the soldier
following request by the family of the soldier.
As of 11:00 a.m. Monday, Tapang said pursuit operations are
ongoing. In fact, he said they can still hear gunbursts from their location.
As this developed, 10th Infantry Division commander, MGen
Rafael Valencia ordered the pursuit of the fleeing armed rebels while a joint
checkpoints by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine
National Police (PNP) were set up to block the possible escape points of the
rebels.
The firefight, which lasted one hour, prompted residents to
evacuate but 10th ID spokesperson Capt. Ryan Batchar said the 1002nd IB has
coordinated with the local governments of Sta Cruz and Davao del Sur for the
necessary assistance to the populace who were affected by the said armed
conflict.
“We wish to further inform the public that the situation in
Barangay Astorga is manageable and under control by government forces and
agencies,” Batchar said.
According to Batchar, the different agencies of government
are closely working together to address and mitigate the effects of this
incident on the people.
“We are asking for the understanding and cooperation of the
community affected by the armed encounter. We also commiserate with the family,
relatives and friends of our soldier who valiantly died in pursuit of peace for
Davao del Sur and the rest of Davao Region,” Batchar said.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=879823
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