BACOLOD CITY -- A soldier was wounded, while 200 individuals were evacuated, following two clashes involving the remnants of the Southwest Front of the New People’s Army (NPA) and government troops in Cauayan town and Sipalay City, Negros Occidental on Wednesday, Jan. 18.
Brig. Gen. Leonardo Peña, commander of the Philippine Army’s 302nd Infantry Brigade (IBde), said a firefight erupted as troops of the 15th Infantry Battalion (IB) responded to reports that armed people believed to be remnants of the Southwest front were allegedly making extortion in Barangay Camalandaan, Cauayan town.
Later in the afternoon, another clash occurred while the military troops were pursuing the NPA rebels at their withdrawal route toward the neighboring village of Barangay San Jose in Sipalay City, particularly at Sitio Malipayon.
A soldier was injured in the Sipalay clash that also resulted in the displacement of 200 residents of Barangay San Jose, according to Peña.
The local government has already provided assistance to the affected residents.
Classes in three schools in Barangays San Jose and Camindangan, namely Binulig Elementary School, Gil Montilla National High School–Binulig Extension, and Omas Integrated School, were temporarily suspended until further notice from the Schools Division Office, according to the local government.
Peña said there was no evacuation reported in Cauayan town, and the wounded soldier is already stable in a hospital in Cebu.
Peña said the Southwest Front has already weakened, but he stressed that they need the full cooperation of the community to stop the recovery efforts of the NPA in the said areas.
“Kailangan talaga tapusin na dahil kung hindi, iyong Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), parang termites na kapag hindi mo pinansin ay bigla na lang dadami (We need to end this because the CPP is like termites, if we don’t mind them, their number will eventually increase),” Peña said.
“We will not let up. We will not stop,” added Peña, referring to their military operations against the NPA to end the insurgency problem.