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Friday, July 21, 2006
14 rebels, soldiers killed in clash in southern RP
By Al Jacinto
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Fierce fighting between communist insurgents and government soldiers broke out in the southern Philippines, leaving at least 14 people dead on both sides, security officials said Thursday.
Officials said the clashes erupted in the village of Maniki in Kapalong town in Davao del Norte province late Wednesday afternoon after troops intercepted a band of New People's Army (NPA) rebels.
"At least 10 rebels and four government soldiers were killed in the fighting and military offensive is still going on in the province," said Colonel Francisco Simbajon, spokesman for the Army's 4th Infantry Division.
Two soldiers were also wounded in the fighting, he said.
He said senior NPA leader Verino Antolihao was killed in the fighting. "Verino was a notorious rebel leader and chief of the NPA's Front Committee 35 of Southern Mindanao Regional Committee," Simbajon said.
Simbajon claimed the rebels, numbering more than 30, were onboard two trucks and on their way to collect revolutionary taxes from villagers in the town.
"Villagers informed us about the presence of rebels and troops, from the 60th Infantry Battalion, caught up with them, triggering a running gun battle," he said.
The NPA rebels were reportedly led by Antolihao, alias Ka Isko. Antolihao is the secretary of the NPA's Front Committee 35 under the Southern Mindanao Regional Party Committee, operating in the hinterland of Davao del Norte, Simbajon said.
"The NPA (rebels) reportedly had the intention of sowing terror in the municipality of Kapalong during the celebration of their town fiesta on that day (Wednesday). However, some concerned citizens, who accordingly happened to know the plan of the NPA, informed immediately the nearest military detachment in the area," Simbajon said.
Government troops were alerted and they put up a checkpoint to intercept the approaching NPA, he added.
He said the rebels fled to Barangay Kamuning in nearby Asuncion town of the same province following a 30-minute firefight but were blocked by another group of security forces.
Although some of the rebels were able to extricate some of their fallen and critically wounded comrades, they failed to bring the dead body of their leader, identified as Ka Isko.
Four M-16 Armalite and two M-14 rifles of the fallen and critically wounded rebel group were left at the encounter site and recovered by the scouring government troopers, according to Simbajon.
He did not reveal how many wounded guerillas were captured by government security forces in the area.
Major General Carduso Luna, chief of the Army's 4th Infantry Division, ordered his troops to continue the pursuit operation against the fleeing communist rebels.
Luna also ordered his forces to locate their hideouts in the towns of Kapalong and Asuncion, Davao del Norte.
"The general's (Luna) order is to neutralize the rebels fast and quick," Simbajon said.
Fighting escalated after peace talks between communist rebels and the government collapsed in 2004 after the Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front pulled out from the negotiations because of their inclusion in the terror lists of the United States and the European Union on Manila's prodding.
The rebels demanded that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ask the United States and the European Union to strike them off from the terror lists before they resume peace talks. Manila rejected the demand and suspended safety and immunity guarantee for rebel peace negotiators following the collapse of the talks.
Arroyo ordered new military chief General Hermogenes Esperon to crush the NPA, the armed wing of the CPP-NDF, and she set aside one billion pesos for the military to help fight insurgency and terrorism. (Sunnex/With a report from Bong Garcia)
(July 21, 2006 issue)
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