BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines – The Army reported a kill count of six armed remnants of a dismantled front of the Communist New People’s Army and the seizure of eight rifles in an early morning clash in an upland community of Gatuslao in Candoni, a town more than three hours south of here.
As the 47th and 15th Infantry Battalions logged the second major engagement for the year, Third Infantry Division commander, Major General Marion Sison, called on the remaining Negros rebels to choose peace.
“We will not tire of urging you to abandon this path of armed struggle. It brings only death and suffering. There is still time to choose a peaceful way where you can have a fresh start,” Sison was quoted as saying in a dispatch from Public Affairs chief, Major Ivy Arcangeles.
Soldiers who scoured the encounter site after the clash found the bodies of the rebels left begind by their conrades and seized five M16 rifles, two AK-47 rifles, and one M653 rifle.
The rebels remain unidentified as of press time.
No casualties were reported on the government side.
Captain Roel Duran told DNX the early morning clash Thursday, 21 November 2024, was a government-initiated encounter of the battalions under the 302nd Brigade after villagers reported the extortion activities of the rebels who have been forcing people to give them food or money.
“The people were fed up with them and decided to report them to us,” the 47th IB civil military officer also said.
The Third ID said the slain rebels were part of the dismantled South West Front that used to be present in the southern part of the province that is now under a Stable Internal Peace and Security Status with the dismantling of all Communist fronts here.
Former 303rd Infantry Brigade chief, Brigadier General Orlando Edralin had earlier told DNX he estimated rebel remnants to be only around 25 fighters.
Sison, on the other hand, had ordered Army units in the island to finish the Communist insurgents before the year ends.
