BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Sporadic gun battles between Army soldiers and fleeing New People’s Army rebels ensued yesterday in the hinterlands of Brgy. Carabalan, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, following discovery of the terrorists’ harboring area, disclosed last night by Brig. Gen. Inocencio Pasaporte, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander.
Acting on information from civilians, Pasaporte said that 94th Infantry Battalion soldiers figured in an approximately 40-minute gun battle with an estimated 20 armed rebels in Sitio Sig-ang, Brgy. Carabalan, Himamaylan City, at about 6 a.m. yesterday.
The fleeing rebels left behind newly-cooked food and other logistical needs and personal belongings at their harboring area, while traces of bloodstains were discovered along their escape routes, Pasaporte said.
At about 3 p.m. yesterday, Army soldiers caught up some of the fleeing rebels, resulting in sporadic gun battles, he added.
Pasaporte discouraged residents from returning to the encounter sites for security reasons, advising them to stay in the poblacion proper.
More Army soldiers, in close coordination with other government security forces, were deployed to neighboring areas to track down the fleeing rebels.
Pasaporte said he believes that the rebels encountered by 94IB soldiers may have been coming from other areas of Negros Island, to augment remnants of Central Negros Front 2, which they classified as a “weakened” guerilla front, because many of its members had either surrendered or been killed due to focused military operations.
He also suspects that they may have been able to thwart possible terrorist activities of the armed group, who were consolidating forces in the area.*
