BUTUAN CITY – The Army 29th Infantry (Matatag) Battalion (IB) and the City Task Force to End Local Armed Conflict (CTF-ELCAC) facilitated the burial of two slain New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Sitio Dugyaman, Barangay Anticala, this city, on Wednesday, June 21. Troops extricated the cadavers from the encounter site in Sitio Dugyaman and turned over to funeral homes where they were kept until they were interred. The CTF-ELCAC shouldered all the expenses from funeral services to interment. Two Army soldiers served as pallbearers during the burial of “Ka Do” or “Dali,” alleged executive commander of the Northeastern Mindanao Regional Committee and vice commander and his party wife “Ka Apple,”  alleged finance staff of the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA Northeastern Mindanao Regional Committee. The bodies of two other communist fighters slain in the gunfight have been claimed and interred by their families. The loved ones of Ka Do and KaApple have expressed appreciation to the 29th IB for retrieving their bodies and giving them the utmost respect. Lt. Col. Cresencio C. Gargar, commanding officer of the 29th IB, expressed sadness over the incident. “Despite being an enemy of the state, we are saddened and grieved together with the family of the victims of Communist New People’s Army Terrorists (CNTs) wrong ideologies,” he said. “We ensure that the integrity of the cadavers is well taken care of, and we are calling again to the remaining CNTs who are out there to surrender peacefully and preserve your life,” the 29th IB commander said. “There is so much to enjoy outside your group. The government is here to support you if you ever change your mind, and will decide to surrender.”