AT LEAST four suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA) were killed, two surrendered, and three firearms were seized during a series of gunfights with army troops in Barangay Nagoocan, Catubig, Northern Samar Tuesday, June 3, 2025.
“We in the government forces, as your frontliners, assure you that we will never falter in our mission. We will not rest until every terrorist who preys upon innocent Filipinos is brought to justice,” said Major General Adonis Ariel Orio, commander of the 8th Infantry Division (8ID) based in Catbalogan City, Samar.
The army said it has coordinated with local officials to identify the slain individuals and notify their families.
Major Jefferson Mariano, 8ID spokesperson, told Sunstar Philippines that encounters with the NPA have been declining, with five recorded clashes in the second quarter of the year.
During its focused military operations, the government troops clashed for 30 minutes with approximately 30 alleged rebel members from the Regional Guerrilla Unit and Sub-Regional Committee Arctic under the Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee (EVRPC).
A day before the firefight, army troops from the 20th Infantry Battalion also discovered a cache of firearms and explosives in Barangay Roxas, Catubig, through the help of former rebels.
Mariano said the firearms “were believed to have been stashed after an encounter at Barangay Sulitan, Catubig, on November 5, 2024.”
Meanwhile, Orio assured residents of Northern Samar and the rest of Eastern Visayas region “of the military’s unwavering commitment to peace and security.”
He also urged rebel members “to avail and take advantage of the National Amnesty Program offered by the government.”
“They may coordinate with their relatives or local chief executives to arrange for their safe passage and formalize their application for amnesty,” Orio said in a statement to the media on June 4.
“The Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-Clip) will continue to serve as our mission enabler, offering not just holistic integration and livelihood support, but a renewed purpose,” he added.
As this developed, the army official maintained the four slain rebels “will be given a decent burial through coordination with the local government of Catubig, in accordance with the Army’s respect for human dignity and compliance to International Humanitarian Law.”
Eastern Visayas, particularly Samar Island, has remained a hotbed of insurgency with the continued presence of the NPA, which has been waging a Maoist-inspired guerrilla war since the late 1960s. (Ronald O. Reyes/SunStar Philippines)