BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Four New People’s Army (NPA) rebels died in one of two separate clashes with government troops yesterday in the towns of Binalbagan and Calatrava in Negros Occidental.
In Binalbagan, elements of the Philippine Army’s 94th Infantry Battalion (94IB) and the Provincial Mobile Force Company of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office exchanged fire with at least 15 NPA rebels in Barangay Bi-ao at around 9:30 a.m.
The clash resulted in the death of four NPA rebels, according to Brigadier General Inocencio Pasaporte, commander of the 303rd Infantry Brigade (303IB).
The rebels encountered in Binalbagan were the ones involved in the ambush of a patrol car of the Binalbagan municipal police station in February of this year.
Government forces recovered an M16 assault rifle, an M14 rifle, and a .45 pistol in the encounter site.
As of this writing, the four NPA fatalities remained unidentified.
Meanwhile in the town of Calatrava, troops of the 79th Infantry Battalion (79IB) clashed with at least seven NPA rebels in Barangay Marcelo.
As of press time, however, both the 79IB and the 303IB have yet to release the result of the encounter which was reported to have begun at around 12:30 p.m.
The 79IB believed that the rebels they encountered were remnants of the dismantled NPA Northern Negros Front./PN