MALAYBALAY CITY – A soldier belonging to the Higaonon tribe died during an encounter with the New People's Army (NPA) in a hinterland area in Balingasag, Misamis Oriental on Friday.
Lt. Col. Roy Anthony Derilo, commander of the Army's 58th Infantry Battalion, said Friday's (July 26) encounter occurred in Barangay Kibanban, a known rebel lair for decades before the government developed the area in the late 2000s and established a military detachment.
Before the clash, Derilo said Higaonon inhabitants in the area complained of the NPA presence inside their ancestral domain.
This prompted the Army to send troops, Derilo said, leading to the first encounter on Thursday that resulted in the surrender of a wounded NPA rebel who brought along an M16A1 rifle.
Derilo said the wounded rebel was "left by his comrades. We immediately gave him first aid and is now being evacuated," Derilo said Friday.
Meanwhile, the military was unable to immediately release the name of the soldier killed in action as his family had yet to be notified.
"He and the other one wounded soldier are heroes of Mt. Balatucan. They have sacrificed in defense of our IPs which is the living heritage of this nation," said Capt. Ryan Layug, the Army's 403rd Infantry Brigade spokesman.
Brig. Gen. Edgardo de Leon, 403rd brigade commander, noted that Mt. Balatucan range is home to several Indigenous Peoples (IP) groups that are being targeted by NPA for recruitment and exploitation.
"Our indigenous peoples are peace-loving people. However, the NPAs are radicalizing them to recruit their children as child warriors and turning Indigenous Cultural Communities (ICC) into guerilla bases," De Leon said.
"This is the reason why tribal leaders have been asking for our presence to defend their AD (ancestral domain) from the intrusion of radical cadres from the lowlands," De Leon said
He said the Higaonon soldier who died in Friday's encounter was from Mt. Balatucan, particularly in Sitio Lantad, Barangay Kibanban, Balingasag.
"He was recruited and joined the NPA but later surrendered to become a soldier having realized the deception and exploitation of tribal communities by the CPP-NPA. He has been wanting to liberate his tribal community from the manipulation of the CPP-NPA cadres," he said.
It can be recalled in March this year, the Army's 60IB also discovered an NPA lair in the village called Sitio Tapayanon in the boundary of Bukidnon, Agusan Sur, and Davao del Norte.
"Mt. Balatucan is considered sacred ground by the IPs. However, since the 1980s, the NPAs turned the area into their hideout for training and burial site of fellow NPAs they killed as part of their internal purging. That area has been liberated by 58th Infantry Battalion since 2018," De Leon said.
"The NPAs want to recover the mountain lair for its strategic importance in their extortion of businesses in towns surrounding Balatucan. But we will continue to defend the AD and protect our ICC," the military official said.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1076238
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