A leader of the New People’s Army (NPA) was arrested while another rebel was killed in separate police and military operations in Bukidnon and Samar, authorities reported.
The PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) named the arrested NPA leader as alias Gab, a former commander of the now-dismantled NPA Guerrilla Front 89.
The CIDG said Gab is now associated with the Sub-Regional Sentro Grabidad Loader Unit.
Gab was nabbed Wednesday last week in Sitio Ananaso, Barangay Damalaguing, Impasug-ong town in Bukidnon by virtue of arrest warrants for two counts of frustrated murder and five counts of attempted murder.
These cases were filed in connection with the ambush of Army soldiers in Malaybalay City in Bukidnon in February 2021.
In Samar, an NPA rebel was slain after a clash with troops from the Army’s 87th Infantry Battalion in San Juan de Buan town on Thursday last week, the Army’s 8th Infantry Division (ID) said.
The troops were conducting focused military operations in the area when they clashed with about 20 “heavily-armed” rebels from the Regional Security Force, Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee.
The rebels withdrew after a 25-minute firefight, leaving behind the body of one of their comrades. Soldiers also recovered at the encounter site four magazines, 51 rounds of ammunition, a bandolier, and NPA documents.
No one was killed or injured on the military side.
