ILOILO CITY – The military neutralized 25 New People’s Army (NPA) rebels across the Visayas in July. The Armed Forces Visayas Command described the losses as a setback to the communist movement. “The losses suffered by the NPA in the Visayas caused irreparable damages to the terrorist group,” said Lt. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, commander of the Viscom. Viscom said eight NPA rebels died while 17 surrendered. The most recent setback for the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), was on July 29 when two members were killed in a clash with the 61st Infantry Battalion (IB) in Leon town, Iloilo province. A week earlier, two NPA rebels were killed in Pambujan town, Northern Samar province in an encounter with the 19th IB. Thirty-eight NPA firearms were seized, 22 of which were high-powered, the military added. The most number of weapons recovered was in the gun battle in Can-avid town, Eastern Samar province on July 19. The 42nd IB recovered from four M16 rifles, five M14 rifles, an M79 grenade launcher, a shotgun, and three anti-personnel landmines. “Our focused military operations and localized peace engagements will always remain as the bread and butter of our campaign in defeating the CPP-NPA in the three Visayas regions,” said Arevalo. “These will significantly degrade both their manpower and armed capability which will eventually lead to the fall of the terrorist group,” added Arevalo.