BACOLOD CITY – A New People’s Army rebel was killed in an encounter with government forces in Sitio Manaysay, Barangay Cambayobo, Calatrava, Negros Occidental on Wednesday, May 22.
TROOPS transport the remains of a New People’s Army (NPA) killed in a clash in Barangay Cambayobo, Calatrava, Negros Occidental on Wednesday, May 22. (Photo courtesy of 79th IB)
Capt. Dan Carlo Samoza, 79th IB civil-military operations officer, did not identify the fatality as respect to his family.
According to the Army 3rd Infantry Division, the 79th Infantry Battalion and the 3rd Mobile Platoon of the 1st Negros Occidental Provincial Mobile Force (Nopmfc) were conducting a Joint Enhanced Military and Police Operations (JEMPO) in response to a report from residents on the alleged presence of about seven remnants of the Northern Negros Front (NNF) Komiteng Rehiyon-Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor (KR-NCBS) in the area when the encounter broke out around 3:55 p.m.
The firefight lasted for about 10 minutes.
The body of the slain rebel was recovered in the encounter site, along with various war materials, including an M16 rifle, a hand grenade, a bandolier, magazines, ammunition, medicines, food, subversive documents, and personal belongings.
The gun battle came a day after the 62nd IB engaged the remnants of the NPA in Barangay Quintin Remo, Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental in which one communist rebel was killed.
Major Gen. Marion Sison, 3rd ID commander, told remaining NPA rebels that “Negros is no longer a safe refuge for them.”
The unity of the people and the government is evident in the series of encounters, wherein information from local residents has played a crucial role in combat operations, especially in locating and hitting the NPA remnants with precision, he said.
“Surrender now while you still have time. Everybody is safeguarding this beautiful island because they have witnessed and experienced the beneficial impacts of the Stable Internal Peace and Security (SIPS) status on various aspects of Negros Island, specifically on the economic and social conditions of its people,” Sison said.