Suspected rebel found dead after encounter

By Glazyl M. Jopson

BACOLOD CITY — A suspected New People’s Army rebel was found dead in Barangay Macagahay, Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental, on Wednesday, a day after an encounter with military troopers in Barangay Trinidad, Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental.

Police Major Ryan Villasario, chief of the Moises Padilla Municipal Police Station, identified the fatality as alias “Pagat,” a resident of Barangay Trinidad, Guihulngan City.

Barangay officials reported the discovery of the decomposing body to police on Thursday, prompting authorities to verify the incident.

Villasario said barangay officials also informed police about a clash between the Army’s 62nd Infantry Battalion and suspected New People’s Army rebels near the boundary of the two villages on Tuesday morning.

Authorities are looking into whether the fatality was linked to that encounter.

The body has been claimed by the family, Villasario said.

The New People’s Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, has been involved in a decadeslong insurgency in various parts of the country, including Negros Island.