THREE leaders of the New People’s Army, including a daughter of the late NPA icon Gregorio “Ka Roger” Rosal, and two members were killed in a firefight with government troops in Palawan yesterday morning.
Also slain was a Marine belonging to the Force Recon, an elite unit of the Philippine Marine Corps, said Brig. Gen. Nestor Herico, commander of the 3rd Marine Brigade based in the province.
Herico named the slain NPA rebels as Bonifacio Magramo alias Boywan, secretary of the Sub-Regional Military Area-4E; Andrea Rosal alias Naya, the unit’s deputy secretary; Noel Siasico alias Ka Celnon, a platoon leader; and members identified only as alias Pandan and alias Jay-r.
Herico said the government has offered monetary reward for information that would lead to the neutralization of the three rebel leaders — P5.45 million for Magramo, P4.5 million for Rosal, and P6.1 million for Siasico.
A few days before the encounter, Herico said, the military received information that 20 to 25 rebels are staying at a forested area in Barangay Mainit in Brooke’s Point town.
“Our troops (from the elite Force Recon) went to confirm their presence, leading to the encounter,” he said.
Herico said the fighting broke out at around 5:53 a.m. yesterday, in Sitio Kabuyuan where the rebels were maintaining a base for the recruitment of new fighters.
Herico said the slain soldier was shot by the rebels while he was pursuing one of the fleeing rebels. The soldier’s name was withheld, pending notification of his kin.
Rosal was arrested in March 2014 in Caloocan City, based on warrants for murder and kidnapping. She was then seven months pregnant. She lost her baby upon birth at the Philippine General Hospital two months later. Rosal was released from Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City in September 2015 after a Caloocan City court quashed the criminal information filed against her by government prosecutors.
