BACOLOD: Troops of the Philippine Army's 94th Infantry Battalion (94IB) seized several high-powered firearms after an encounter with New People's Army (NPA) remnants in the hinterlands of Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental on Monday afternoon. In a belated report on Tuesday, Lt. Col. Donald Van Almonte, commanding officer of 94IB, said the troops responded to reports from residents of Sitio Tagok, Barangay Carol-an about the continued extortion activities of communist rebels. 'We initiated a combat operation at the specified location, where the troops first encountered around 10 communist terrorists at 3:39 p.m. The firefight lasted for 10 minutes,' he added. By 4:41 p.m., pursuing forces engaged seven NPA rebels for about five minutes, about a kilometer away from the first encounter site. According to the 94IB report, the troops encountered remnants of the dismantled Central Negros Front 2, Komiteng Rehiyon-Negros, Cebu, Bohol, and Siquijor. The 94IB soldiers recovered four M16 rifles, one carbine rifle , and two rifle grenades as well as four long and two short magazines of M16 with 139 rounds of live ammunition and a carbine magazine with two live ammunitions. They also found a bandolier and two backpacks. In a separate statement, Brig. Gen. Orlando Edralin, commander of the 303rd Infantry Brigade, thanked the officials and residents of Barangay Carol-an for providing timely information to the troops. He added that the encounter stopped the NPA remnants from pursuing their plan to intimidate and extort from the Indigenous Peoples communities in remote villages of Kabankalan. 'Your support, cooperation, and efforts in the ongoing battle against insurgency in Barangay Carol-an have been instrumental in the 94IB's success against the insurgents,' Edralin said. In February 2019, officials and residents of Barangay Carol-an agreed to declare persona non grata all members of the the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) and its political wing, the National Democratic Front. A month before, NPA rebels gunned down former village watchman Cornelio Morales in Sitio Camandag in front of his daughter and their neighbors, prompting residents of the 27 sitios (sub-villages) in Barangay Carol-an to condemn the presence and the atrocities of the CPP-NPA. Source: Philippines News Agency
