2 NPA leaders killed in Zambo Norte clash

From the Philippine News Agency (May 13, 2022): 2 NPA leaders killed in Zambo Norte clash (By Teofilo Garcia, Jr.)

Google map of Leon Postigo municipality, Zamboanga del Norte.

Some two leaders of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) were killed in a firefight with government troops in the hinterlands of Zamboanga del Norte, the military said Friday.

Brig. Gen. Leonel Nicolas, Army’s 102nd Infantry Brigade (102Bde) commander, said NPA leaders Loreto Dagpin and Rolando Maglasang were killed in a 30-minute clash with government forces around 3:40 p.m. Thursday in Barangay Midatag, Leon Postigo, Zamboanga del Norte.

Dagpin was a commanding officer of the defunct Main Regional Guerrilla Unit (MRGU) while Maglasang was a leader of the defunct Guerrilla Front-Big Beautiful Country.

Both were executive members of the NPA’s Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee, Nicolas said.

He said troops recovered an AK-47 assault rifle, two M653 Carbine rifles, an M16 rifle, backpacks, and personal belongings at the site of the clash.

“This is a result of the pursuit operations launched following the encounter with the same group in Barangay Tinuyop of the same municipality last May 9 during the national and local election,” Nicolas said.

Major Gen. Gene Ponio, 1st Infantry Division commander, extended his sympathies to the families of the slain NPA leaders.

“We have not failed to convince them to lay down their arms and surrender to the government while they can,” Ponio said. “The Army will continue to fight for peace and is always ready to use its force against peace spoilers."

The Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

The Anti-Terrorism Council also formally designated the NDF as a terrorist organization on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA that was created in April 1973.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1174367