An alleged remnant of the New People’s Army (NPA) died following two consecutive encounters with the Philippine Army (PA) in Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental on Tuesday, May 21.

Lt. Col J-Jay Javines, chief of 3^rd Infantry Division (3ID) public affairs office, identified the fatality as Richard Dela Peña alias Rocky, 50, of the dismantled Central Negros 1 (CN1), Komiteng Rehiyon – Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor (KR-NCBS).

A report reaching Camp Aguinaldo said troops from the 62^nd Infantry Battalion (62IB) were conducting combat operations in Sitio Inangaw, Barangay Quintin Remo in Moises Padilla town when they encountered armed men believed to be members of the CN-1, KR-NCBS around 7 a.m.

Prior to this, the 62IB received a tip from the residents about the presence of around seven NPA rebels in their community, prompting a security check in the perimeter of the area.

The firefight lasted for 10 minutes and the rebels were forced to flee northward.

However, a blocking force set up by the 62IB spotted five of the fleeing rebels and engaged them in another firefight around 8:30 a.m. in Sitio Saksak in the same village.

When the shootout ended, the remains of Dela Peña were recovered from the clash site, Javines said.

The troops also recovered an M16 rifle with a magazine loaded with 20 bullets, a bandolier with two magazines, and 20 rounds of ammunition from the slain rebel.

“Our peace and security efforts in Negros will persist, even as the achievement of a stable internal peace and security environment for all Negrenses is at hand. This is an integral part of our sustainment strategy to prevent any attempts at recovery and resurgence by the dismantled guerrilla fronts of the CTG [communist-terrorist group],” Major General Marion R. Sison, commander of 3ID, said.

In February, Sison said that all the guerilla fronts of the KR-NCBS operating in the island region of Negros have already been dismantled.