BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—Nine communist rebels died while a government trooper was wounded early Wednesday after a firefight between Philippine Army soldiers and members of the New People’s Army in villages bordering the towns of Alfonso Castañeda and Dupax del Sur in this province.
Police Supt. Marvin Follante, chief of the Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Public Safety Company, said the battle happened in the mountains of barangays Talbec and Abaca in Dupax del Sur and barangay Lipuga and Pelaway in Alfonso Castañeda.
“Fighting is still going on as of this time [2 p.m.] between government troopers and the communist rebels,” he said.
Follante said the firefight erupted after a platoon of Charlie Company’s 84th Infantry Battalion of the Army chanced upon an undetermined number of NPA rebels led by Ka Joel Manangan within the boundary of the two towns.
The firefight, which is still going on at presstime, left an initial number of dead rebels identified only as Ka Gian, Ka Rasul, Ka Bunso, Ka Asok and five unidentified combatants, the police official said.
He said the bodies of the rebels have been recovered and are now in a hospital in Carranglan, Nueva Ecija.
Follante said Ka Joel, the local NPA command’s leader, was reportedly killed during the firefight. A certain Corporal Buenavista of the Army was also shot in his left leg, he added.
Robert Corpuz of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office said the provincial government has prepared relief goods for more than 2,000 villagers who fled their homes for fear of being caught in the crossfire.
Military operations in Alfonso Castañeda and Dupax del Sur have been strengthened while checkpoints in strategic areas have been set up to block the communist rebels, military officials said.
Earlier, an encounter between government troopers and NPA rebels in the upland areas of barangays Pao and Dine in Kasibu town left three soldiers dead and another injured.
This firefight forced more than a thousand evacuees to seek temporary shelters and refuge in nearby barangay halls and schools, and led to the suspension of classes among elementary and high schools in the area.
Authorities reported increased sightings of communist rebels in remote and upland barangays of the province since the suspension of peace negotiations between the government peace panel and the National Democratic Front, the political arm of the NPA.
The suspension of the peace talks was fueled by continuing attacks of the communist rebels on vital government installations and military establishments.
