Soldier killed in clash with NPA rebels
A soldier was killed while two others were wounded when Army troops clashed with New People's Army rebels in Capiz Tuesday.
Lt. Mark Andrew Posadas, public information officer of the Army's 3rdInfantry Division, identified the slain soldier as Private First Class Eugene Daquil.
Pfc. Franklin Catamin and Pfc. Howel Villa were wounded when soldiers of the 47th Infantry Battalion engaged in a firefight with rebels under Ka Mayok in Brgy. Buri in Tapaz at about 11:55 a.m. Tuesday.
An Air Force chopper airlifted the wounded to Iloilo Mission Hospital here for treatment.
The Army said that the NPA suffered casualties in the encounter, but this cannot be independently confirmed.
“Our troops were on a routine combat operation based on intelligence that Ka Mayok’s group was planning to conduct several tactical offensives in line with their 40thNPA founding anniversary. A firefight soon ensued as the operating troops engaged the NPA’s before they could act on their plan,” Posadas said in a press release.
In a statement emailed to reporters on the 40th anniversary of the NPA, Julian Paisano of the Coronacion “Waling-waling” Chiva Command, said that “The NPA in Panay is sufficiently capable of marching with the whole revolutionary movement in advancing to the
next higher level of the people’s war. This year, we will move forward to achieve the requisites for strengthening
company-sized fronts, expand and consolidate the mass organizations, increase the strength and capacity of the
people’s army and launch more tactical offensives.”