Two suspected rebels of the New People’s Army (NPA), who were said to be remnants of the dismantled Northern Negros Front, were captured on Thursday, April 25, by the joint security forces in Barangay Pinowayan, Don Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental.
2Lt. Dan Carlo Samoza, Civil Military Operations officer of the 79th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, said that the soldiers belonging to the 79IB of the 1st Negros Occidental Provincial Mobile Force Company acted on the information relayed to them by civilians on the presence of armed men in their community while they were conducting joint law enforcement operations.
This resulted in the capture of two suspected NPA personalities and the recovery of a cache of firearms, which include a KG 9 automatic pistol, a caliber .45 pistol, and three 12-gauge shotguns, Samoza said.
The identities of the captured rebels have been withheld by authorities, pending their follow-up operations.
The capture of two suspected rebels came in the wake of the liquidation of a farmer, who was shot dead in front of his wife on April 20 in Calatrava town.
On the other hand, the NPA Cansermon Command issued a statement claiming responsibility for the death of a woman it accused of being a military informant on April 21 in Sitio Dug-anon, Brgy. Oringao, Kabankalan City.
Rebel spokesman Ka Dionesio Magbuelas alleged that Myrna “En En” Bilando was engaged in spying activities as an intelligence asset of the 94th Infantry Battalion.*