DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 29, 2014) – Government troops killed four communist rebels in a fierce clashes Wednesday in the southern Philippine province of Davao Oriental, an army spokesman said.
Capt. Alberto Caber, of the Eastern Mindanao Command, said one soldier was also killed in the fighting that erupted in the village of Taocanga in Manay town.
He said troops also recovered four automatic rifles, improvised explosives, a cell phone and anti-government propaganda from the slain New People’s Army rebels.
“Troops were sent to the village (of Taocanga) after civilians secretly informed the military about the presence of heavily armed men in the area. It turned out the gunmen were NPA fighters,” Caber said.
Caber, citing a report from Lt. Col. Krishnamurti Mortela, commander of the 67th Infantry Battalion, said the rebels were trying to recover a former stronghold in the village that was overtaken by security forces.
Lt. Gen. Ricardo Rainier Cruz III, chief of the Eastern Mindanao Command, condoled with the family of the slain soldier and said he died fighting for democracy and safety of the whole village and its inhabitants, and at the same time commended the 67th Infantry Battalion for their bravery.
The NPA, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, has been fighting for decades now for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
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