• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Renewed armed skirmishes between Army soldiers and remnants of the New People’s Army ensued yesterday in two hinterland sitios of Brgy. Quintin Remo in Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental.
Lt. Col. J Jay Javinez, 3rd Infantry Division Civil Military Operations chief, disclosed that the first encounter took place in Sitio Inangaw of the barangay, after they were informed by residents of the presence of about seven armed men in their community.
After almost 10 minutes of gun battle, the rebels, believed to be remnants of the dismantled Central Negros (CN) 1 guerilla front, fled towards a northerly direction, where they encountered the blocking force of the 62nd Infantry Battalion, in Sitio Saksak of the same barangay in Moises Padilla town, Javines said.
The two encounters resulted to the death of Richard dela Peña, a remnant of CN 1, Komiteng Rehiyonal Negros/Cebu/Bohol/ Siquijor, and the recovery of an M16 assault rifle with three magazines containing ammunition, and subversive documents with high intelligence value.
No 62IB soldiers were hurt in the two encounters, Javines said.
In a statement, Maj. Gen. Marion Sison, 3ID commander, commended the 62IB operating troops and the local populace for their concerted efforts that led to the successful encounters and neutralization of the CN1 remnant.
“Our peace and security efforts in Negros will persist, even as the achievement of a stable internal peace and security environment for all Negrenses is at hand,” Sison said.
This is an integral part of our sustainment strategy to prevent any attempts at recovery and resurgence by the dismantled guerrilla fronts of the NPA, he stressed.*
