Three New People’s Army fighters and two policemen were killed while dozens of more rebels were wounded in three days of running gunbattle in separate areas in the NPA-infested hinterlands of Mindoro and Bukidnon province on Saturday.
The clashes erupted after government troops launched combat operations against the rebel group which had reportedly been extorting money from civilians and sabotaging the operations of private contractors of government projects across the country.
In Mindoro province, army troopers from the 4th Infantry Battalion, acting on a civilian tip, raided a temporary hideout of around 10 NPA rebels led by a certain Peter Rivera, alias “Rotche” of Platoon Mike of Kilusang Larangan Guerillas Silangan in Barangay Teresita, Mansalay, Occidental Mindoro.
The raid resulted in a five-minute clash which left two NPA rebels dead and the recovery of an M16 rifle, two rifle grenades, three backpacks, bandoleers, medical paraphernalia, and personal items. The rebels reportedly retreated to different directions.
Lt. Col. Dennis Gutierrez, commander of 4th IB, said the encounter prevented the rebels planned from setting fire construction equipment nearby.
A pursuit team was dispatched to intercept the fleeing rebels who are believed to have escaped to the boundary of Oriental and Occidental Mindoro.
As combined troops from the 4th IB, operatives of the Provincial Mobile Police Force and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group were giving chase, the retreating NPA rebels were seen at Sitio Barungbong, Barangay Mapaya, San Jose town.
Col. Marcelino Teofilo, Commander of the 203rd Infantry Brigade said government troops engaged the rebels at transpired at 6 a.m. against Platoon Mike which escaped to another area dragging with them their wounded and presumably dead comrades.
Four hours after, another firefight broke out when a separate police team encountered the fleeing NPAs at Sitio Imbrasan, Brgy Mayapa which resulted to the killing of two policemen.
After a two-hour lull, government troops again clashed with the same NPA group. The firefight is still ongoing as of press time.
Reports said all available troops, their K9 units and members of the local police were mobilized to pursue the rebels.
Maj. Gen. Rhoderick Parayno, commander of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division has extended his condolences to the families of the slain police officers.
“The NPA group engaged by our forces is the same group we hit last Thursday in Mansalay where they suffered two casualties. These are the tired remnants seeking refuge from the community they are extorting.
“We are catching up on them and we are hitting them not only in today’s series of armed engagements but also in the series of surrender of their members. They cannot forever run and hide from the fold of law because the people are informing us their whereabouts. They better surrender or suffer the fate of their comrades who got killed,” Parayno said.
In Misamis Oriental, a dead NPA terrorist who was left behind by their retreating comrades following an encounter with army troopers was
recovered in an uninhabited area in the hilly boundary of Talisayan and Medina towns at about 10 a.m. Saturday.
Reports said that soldiers recovered five high-powered firearms, consisting of four M16 rifles and an AK 47.
The dead NPA fighter is believed to be a member of the PPH Platoon of Felot, led by a certain “Dallas.”
The rebels engaged government troops from the 58th Infantry Battalion and Cafgu members in fierce firefight.