ILOILO City – A 66-year-old suspected New People’s Army (NPA) “amazona” was captured in an encounter between rebels and the Philippine Army’s 12th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Dabong, Janiuay, Iloilo .
Nena Fernando was a resident of Barangay Ara-al, La Carlota City, Negros Occidental.
“She was caught while seeking refuge in a house in Dabong. Her comrades left her. They all fled,” said Army Major Cenon Pancito, 3rd Infantry Division spokesperson.
The soldiers and five members of the NPA’s Baloy Platoon crossed paths around 1:20 a.m. yesterday, and the firefight lasted for two minutes.
Fernando was detained at the Janiuay police station.
Recovered from her were a .45-caliber pistol with two magazines, seven live bullets, “components in making anti-personnel landmine and subversive documents with high-intelligence value.”
Soldiers also recovered a hammock, two backpacks and a sling bag, assorted groceries, 10 meters of electric wire, and personal belongings.
This was the third encounter between rebels and government troops this month.
On March 3, an alleged improvised explosive device (IED) exploded in the boundary of barangays Pangilihan and Canawili in Janiuay while the town police was conducting a road clearing for the inauguration of a government project in nearby Barangay Panuran.
On March 12, a policeman and a barangay councilman were injured in an alleged IED explosion in Barangay Pughanan, Lambunao town.
Brigadier General Marion Sison, 301st Infantry Brigade commander, said the capture of the suspected rebel and seizure of subversive materials was a big blow to the NPA’s recruitment and extortion activities.
He also said what the rebels did was a “blatant violation” of Republic Act 9851, or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity./PN
