DAVAO CITY – Government soldiers killed a battle-hardened communist rebel leader and captured a female fighter and a cadaver of another insurgent in fierce clashes in Davao del Sur’s Santa Cruz town in southern Philippines, officials said Sunday.
Officials said Julito Pueblas, alias Taghoy, was the leader of a hard core unit of the New People’s Army blamed by the military and police for the spate of deadly attacks in Davao region, including Davao City, the hometown of President Rodrigo Duterte.
One soldier, Army Corporal Kenneth James Balicot, of the 2nd Scout Ranger Battalion, was also wounded in the fighting.
The military handed over its prisoner Jessa Lumana to the police in Santa Cruz town where she is currently being interrogated. The cadavers of the two rebels were also turned over to the police.
The fighting erupted over the weekend after soldiers from the 2nd Scout Ranger Battalion and the 39th Infantry tracked down the rebels and assaulted their lairs in the remote Astorga village.
“Taghoy and his group were responsible for the ambush of PNP (Philippine National Police) SOCO (Scenes of Crime Officer) personnel who responded to a crime situation sometime March 2017 and the ambush of an ambulance sometime March 2014 both in Managa town in Bansalan, Davao del Sur.”
“Further, he was also responsible for the liquidation of a certain Raul Alang in Santa Cruz on Feb 5, 2018. And earlier this month, the same terrorist group was prevented from conducting atrocities in Digos City in Davao Del Sur after troops of 39th Infantry Battalion encountered them in the village of Goma,” said Army Major Ezra Balagtey, spokesman for the Eastern Mindanao Command.
He said troops also recovered a cache of rebel weapons and improvised explosives left behind by the insurgents in the town where the military operation is continuing.
While troops were pursuing the insurgents, General Benjamin Madrigal Jr., chief of Eastern Mindanao Command, appealed to rebels to surrender peacefully or face the long arm of the law.
“On our part, as soldiers of peace, our doors will continue to be open and we are very much willing to facilitate the surrender of those who want to return to the folds of the law. Do not miss this golden opportunity that our government under President Rodrigo Duterte is offering you.”
“Our troops with due regard to respect of human rights and adherence to International Humanitarian Law will continue to exert all our efforts to secure our communities and will not allow any threats to coerce and victimize our people,” Madrigal said.
The rebels have been fighting for many decades now for the establishment of their own Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
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