BACOLOD CITY - An alleged member of the New People’s Army (NPA) was killed in a clash with the 62nd Infantry Battalion (IB) at Sitio Manlibod, Barangay Trinidad, Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental on Wednesday, Sept. 7.
Brig. Gen. Inocencio Pasaporte, commander of 303rd Infantry Brigade (IBde), identified the fatality as Greg Cantilla alias ‘Jordan,’ 45, of Barangay Sandayao.
‘Jordan’ was allegedly a member of Sentro De Grabidad Platoon, Central Negros (CN) 1.
Pasaporte said that Cantilla was an alleged member of the Special Partisan Unit (Sparu), based on their records.
He was also the alleged head of the Section Guerilla Unit of CN1, Pasaporte said.
The 62nd IB Mobile Community Sustainment Support Team (MCSST) was patrolling in the hinterlands of Barangay Trinidad when they received information about the presence of armed NPAs who were allegedly conducting extortion activities in the area.
Military troops immediately launched an operation and encountered at least eight armed persons. The firefight lasted for five minutes.
The Army seized a .45 caliber pistol, hand grenade, two magazines of .45 caliber pistol loaded with rounds, ammunition of .38 caliber revolver, and various personal belongings.
The Army said that the same group of armed persons was encountered by the military troopers at Sitio Cambairan, Barangay Trinidad on Aug. 16 and 17, 2022.
Major Gen. Benedict Arevalo, commander of 3rd Infantry Division (ID), commended the 62nd IB for its relentless military operations which resulted in the neutralization of an alleged rebel in Negros island.
Arevalo reiterated his persistent call to the remaining NPAs to voluntarily surrender to avoid the same fate as their comrades in the previous Army's combat operations in Negros.
Meanwhile, the Leonardo Panaligan Command (LPC)-NPA (Central Negros Front) said that there was no encounter that happened.
According to the LPC, there were no NPA units in that area during the incident.
The LPC said that it was the 62nd IB's modus operandi of declaring fake encounters to cover up peasant killings.