THE Philippine Army has vowed to strengthen its security operations in Mount Balatucan range in Misamis Oriental following a series of encounters with the New People's Army (NPA) last week.

Brigadier General Edgardo De Leon, commander of Army's 403rd Brigade, said Mount Balatucan is a "sacred ground" for the Indigenous Peoples (IPs), but communist guerrillas turned it into their hideout in the 1980s.

De Leon said the area is attractive for the rebels, considering its strategic location for the NPA rebels to operate and extort money from businesses in towns surrounding the Balatucan area.

"That area has been liberated by 58IB since 2018. The NPAs want to recover the mountain lair for its strategic importance in their extortion of businesses in towns surrounding Balatucan. But we will continue to defend the ancestral domain and protect our indigenous cultural communities there," De Leon said.

On Friday last week, troops rescued an NPA fighter in the site after an encounter with the rebels. A day after, another clash occurred while troops were clearing the area.

As a result, a soldier was killed and another was wounded in the firefight.

De Leon identified the slain soldier as Corporal Fermin Lindahay, a former NPA member for three years.

Lindahay was a Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit member in 2006 before becoming an Army soldier in 2011.