By Malu Cadelina Manar KIDAPAWAN CITY – Three members of the New People’s Army were killed in an encounter between government troops and communist guerillas in a remote village in Makilala, North Cotabato, early Monday. A member of the Citizens Armed Forces Geogaphical Unit (CAFGU) died in the clash. (MANILA BULLETIN) Lt. Col. Rhojun Rosales, commander of the 39th Infantry Battalion, said a group of NPA guerillas attacked a CAFGU detachment at Sitio Garing, Barangay Luayon in Makilala,killing a member of the CAFGU unit and wounding five others. Rosales said the terrorists used the villagers as “shields” when the attackers saw government troops respond to the beleaguered CAFGU detachment. The Army said the families of the slain and wounded CAFGU members would first be informed before their names would be released to media. Jose Caparida, DepEd supervisor for Makilala’s central district, told media here that residents heard shots from the ground around 3 a.m. on Monday. Despite the disturbance, classes were not suspended at Barangay Luayon, according to Caparida. There was no displacement of villagers, said the Army official. Rosales said the bodies they recovered from the encounter site were brought to funeral homes in Makilala town, while the wounded CAFGU members were brought to nearby hospitals for treatment.