Military troops told to hunt down NPAs in Negros

By: Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD City – Brigadier General Eric Vinoya, commander of Army’s 3rd Infantry Division has ordered all units in Negros island to be relentless in pursuing the New People’s Army (NPA), following a clash in Isabela, Negros Occidental Friday.

The encounter at Barangay Cansalungon happened last November 22 while members of the 62nd Infantry Battalion (IB) were conducting pursuit operations, following an incident at Barangay Tinongan in the town last November 21, wherein about 15 armed men who reportedly introduced themselves as NPA stormed the house of the village chief.

During the clash, a suspected member of the NPA’s Special Partisan Unit (Sparu) was killed while another was injured, and five others were arrested.

The Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade (IBde) identified the slain rebel as a certain “Dodong” while wounded was Ernesto Amallo.

Authorities identified the five arrested individuals as Maricar Estoya, Merencia Gaudia, Elizabeth Antrone, Jorgen Lizajo, and Erlenda Garsola, whose houses were near the encounter site.

The Army alleged that the wounded rebel went to one of their houses during the clash.

Authorities recovered from the encounter site a .45 caliber from the slain rebel. Also recovered from the houses of the arrested persons were some personal belongings and other war materials.

Brigadier General Benedict Arevalo, 303rd IBde commander, said that 19 encounters were recorded since November 2018.

Moreover, Vinoya commended the troops for their gallantry and urged all soldiers to fiercely hunt these terrorists and bring them to justice.

“Never back down to serve the Filipino people. We will be using all available military resources just to ensure that the NPA will be crushed in due time,” he said.

He once again made a call to the remaining fighters of the NPA.

“Surrender now or be killed. You cannot win the war against the government forces. Sumuko na kayo at i-avail ang mga programa ng gobyerno. Pag di kayo sumuko, wala na tayong pag-uusapan,” he said.

He also lauded the Negrenses for its strong commitment to end insurgency in Negros.