BALBALAN, Kalinga – A New People’s Army leader was killed in an encounter with the Philippine Army 50th Infantry Battalion in Sitio Babacong, Barangay Gawaan, here on Thursday, March 9.
Major Rigor Pamittan, chief of the 5th Infantry Division Public Affairs Division in Camp Melchor dela Cruz, Gamu, Isabela, identified the slain communist guerrilla as Onal Osias Balao-ing, alias “Beran,” and a member of an Indigenous People’s group.
The military contacted the local government of Balbalan and former NPA rebels to determine the identity of the fatality after the skirmish.
His remains were taken by troops to a funeral home in Tabuk City, Kalinga. Balao-ing’s relatives went to the funeral home on Saturday, March 11, and confirmed his identity.
Soldiers recovered two high-powered firearms and subversive documents at the encounter site.
Pamittan said the Army and the Provincial Task Force- End Local Communist Armed Conflict of Kalinga are saddened by the ruthless exploitation of indigenous peoples in the Cordillera.
Balao-ing was the commanding officer of the Regional Unit Center of the Ilocos-Cordillera Regional Committee.