Troops kill insurgent in new fighting in South 

PAGADIAN CITY – A communist insurgent was killed in a firefight Monday with government troops in the southern Filipino province of Misamis Occidental, officials said. 

Capt. Clint Antipala, a spokesman for the 1^st Infantry Division, said the fighting erupted in the village of San Pedro in Aloran town after patrolling soldiers caught up with a band of New People’s Army rebels. 

He said villagers secretly provided information to the military on the presence of rebels in the area. The gunmen were reportedly recruiting in the village. Antipala, quoting a report by Lt. Col. John Andrada, commander of the 10^th Infantry Battalion, said soldiers also recovered one AK-47 assault rifle in the site where the fighting took place. 

“The encounter was the result of the information received by our troops from a concerned civilian who reported the presence of the armed group in their community while we are conducting community security operations,” Andrada said in his report to Brig. Gen. Roberto Ancan, the division commander. 

“The troops scoured the scene of encounter and recovered one AK-47 rifle, three magazines and subversive documents with high intelligence value. Blood stains were seen along the withdrawal routes of the enemies believed to be those of wounded NPA members,” Andrada added. 

Ancan has renewed his calls to rebel forces to surrender peacefully and avail of the government’s amnesty program. 

“Listen to the call of the people, lay down your arms, return to the fold of the law and avail the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program. It is very tragic that he had taken arms against the people of Misamis Occidental when only through peace can development and social justice be achieved,” he said, referring to the slain rebel. 

The NPA has been fighting for many decades now in an effort to overthrow the democratic government and put up a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)

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