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Sunday, June 15, 2008
3 rebels died, 3 soldiers hurt in Bukidnon clash
MANILA -- Three rebels were killed while three soldiers were wounded following a military assault in a major camp of the communist movement in Bukidnon province Saturday dawn.
Army spokesman Romeo Brawner Jr. identified the three slain communists through their aliases as Grace, Jake, and Toto -- all members of the North Central Mindanao Regional Party Committee (NCMRPC) of the New People's Army (NPA).
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Grace is a medical personnel, while the two others were ordnance men.
Brawner said forces from the 42nd and 43rd Military Intelligence Companies and 29th Infantry Battalion (IB) swooped down on the rebel camp at the general vicinity of Sitio Tinupungan in Barangay Sta. Cruz, Quezon town at 3:30 a.m. Saturday following an intelligence built-up.
He said the soldiers clashed with at least 60 communists staying at the camp, which serves as the headquarters of the NCMRPC.
The clash lasted for at least three hours until the rebels withdrew. They left behind their three slain comrades.
Recovered at the overran camp were three rifles, a laptop computer, a USB for computer, eight landmines, three sacks of bomb-making materials, a heavy duty generator and a computer printer, said Brawner.
He said the military discovered the communist camp through intelligence information. "We traced it through intelligence build up. We built up information we got and conducted the operation," the army spokesman said.
In Camarines Sur, joint forces from the 42nd IB and local policemen clashed with undetermined number of rebels under one alias Sexin in Barangay Tingtingon in Lagonoy town at 5:20 a.m. Saturday.
Armed Forces public affairs office chief Ernesto Torres said an amazon died in the encounter, which also resulted in the recovery of two rifles.
There were no casualties reported on the side of the military and the police, Torres said.
He said Armed Forces chief Alexander Yano "congratulated the troops for their significant accomplishments as he urged them to press on the fight and sustain the gains towards the defeat of the insurgents."
Last week, the military suffered defeats from the hands of the communists who raided two military detachments in Abra and Compostella Valley.
In the Abra raid, the communists burned the detachment using Molotov bombs, while five guerrillas died and five soldiers were wounded.
The Compostella Valley rebel offensive resulted in the carting away of 14 rifles.
The military is aiming to end the insurgency problem on or before 2010 when President Arroyo Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's term ends.
Peace talks between the government and the communists bogged down in 2004 after the United States classified the NPA and their political arm, Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), as foreign terrorist organizations. (VR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos. (June 15, 2008 issue)
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