BACOLOD City – Two New People’s Army (NPA) rebels were killed in a gun battle with soldiers of the Philippine Army’s 62nd Infantry Battalion (62IB) in Barangay Montilla, Moises Padilla Negros Occidental late Thursday night.
Marivic “Ivan” Ebarle was believed to be the commanding officer of the NPA’s Section Guerilla Unit of the Central Negros Front.
The second fatality, meanwhile, has yet to be identified by the authorities.
It is also believed that two more NPA rebels were wounded in the clash. The Army found bloodstains at the rebels’ withdrawal route.
1st Lieutenant Mary Liza Joy De Guzman, Civil Military Officer of the 62IB, said residents informed government forces of the rebels’’ presence in the area.
The gun battle lasted for at least 15 minutes.
A .45 pistol, a .357 revolver, 21 pieces of .45 pistol bullets, six .357 revolver bullets, two magazines for a .45 pistol, medical kits, and backpacks containing the rebels’ personal items were recovered.
A background check by the Philippine Army revealed that Ebarle was one of the primary suspects in various murders of civilians, harassment, and extortion activities in the town, as well as in neighboring La Castellana and Canlaon City in Negros Oriental. (Watchmen Daily Journal)
