BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
It appears that there is no let-up in the focused military operations of the Philippine Army against the exhausted New People Army rebels, following another encounter yesterday with fleeing insurgents in Sitio Banderahan, Brgy. Trinidad, Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental.
It was the 8th encounter between Army soldiers and rebels in central Negros since October 6, with six of the gun battles taking place in the hinterland sitios of Brgy. Carabalan, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental.
Brig. Gen. Inocencio Pasaporte, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, disclosed that the brief encounter between 62nd Infantry Battalion soldiers and a group of rebels resulted in the recovery of a .45 caliber pistol and a back pack containing personal belongings
Pasaporte said the rebel group was the same armed men encountered earlier by 62IB soldiers in Brgy. Calupaan, Guihulngan City, where a brief firefight occurred.
Earlier, the followers of slain top Negros rebel leader Romeo Nanta also figured in armed skirmishes with 94th IB soldiers in Sitio Maliko-liko, Brgy. Carabalan, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental.
Army soldiers seized the temporary camp, which can accommodate 20 persons, after a five-minute running gun battle.
Recovered from the abandoned temporary camp were women’s personal belongings, a radio and a utility rope. Bloodstains were also discovered in the area, according to Pasaporte.
There were no casualties on the government side in three encounters, while Pasaporte raised the possibility that some rebels may have been injured.
In a statement, Maj. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, 3rd Infantry Division commander, ordered Army troops in Negros to keep on pursuing the fleeing rebels, who are now exhausted and running out of ammunition.*
