BACOLOD CITY - An alleged commander of the New People’s Army (NPA)-Special Partisan Unit (Sparu) and his companion died, while two soldiers were wounded in an encounter in Barangay Amin, Isabela, Negros Occidental on Tuesday, March 8.
One of the fatalities was identified as Virgilio Marco Tamban alias “Bedam,” of Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, an alleged commander of Sparu, Sandatahang Yunit Pampropaganda (SYP) Platoon, Central Negros (CN)1- Komiteng Region- Negros, Cebu, Bohol at Siquijor (KR-NCBS), while his companion remains to be unidentified.
Brig. Gen. Inocencio Pasaporte, commander of the Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade (IBde), said they received information about the presence of armed men in the village who were allegedly targeting a civilian mistaken to be an informant of the Army.
The 62nd Infantry Battalion (IB) conducted intelligence monitoring and preempted the plan of at least 10 suspected NPA rebels that led to a brief encounter.
The Isabela town police was supposed to serve an arrest warrant for violation of Republic Act 10591 or Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Law against Tamban when the encounter happened.
Pasaporte said two .45 caliber pistol and a hand grenade were recovered from Tamban.
Pasaporte also said that one of the suspected rebels who was wounded in the firefight was brought to a hospital due to severe injuries.
According to the Army, the slain and wounded rebels were the alleged primary suspects in the recent murder cases of civilians and a former member of Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (Cafgu) in Moises Padilla and Binalbagan towns in the province, and Guihulngan City, including the death of a former councilman and his son in Vallehermoso town last month.
The two wounded soldiers suffered minor injuries and were taken to a hospital here.
Lt. Col. William Pesase Jr., 62nd IB commander, in a statement, said that “justice was already served to the innocent civilian victims killed by these Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)-NPA terrorists.”
Pesase also commended the bravery of the concerned residents in divulging reliable information to finally stop the killings in Central Negros.