6 killed, 3 caught in military operations vs Reds, Abus

MANILA, Philippines — A communist rebel who was resisting arrest got killed in Davao City on Monday while two others were arrested as the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) continued operations following the government's termination of the unilateral ceasefire last week.

The military also reported killing five Abu Sayyaf members and arrested one following an encounter in Sulu.

Col. Edgard Arevalo, the chief of the public affairs office of the AFP, said Glen Ramos alias Berdan was killed while resisting arrest in Maa, Davao City at 5:40 p.m. on Monday.

Berdan, the military hardware liaison of the Southern Mindanao Regional Committee of the New People's Army (NPA), died in a joint operation of Task Force Davao, the Intelligence Service of the AFP and other local intelligence units backed by police teams from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and SWAT.

Arevalo said that following the lifting of the ceasefire by President Rodrigo Duterte the military arrested together with the Philippine National Police (PNP) two individuals while seven others surrendered.

According to Arevalo, the seven people who surrendered yielded high-powered firearms and an improvised explosive device (IED).

Four of those who surrendered and gave up their arms, some of whom used aliases for fear of reprisal, were: Alias Joni who surrendered to the 67the Infantry Battalion (67th IB) in Davao Oriental on February 1; Alias Mike who surrendered to 67IB on February 3; Alias Jen who surrendered to 76IB in Occidental Mindoro on February 4; and Herbert Gavino who surrendered to 67IB in Davao Oriental on February 5 and yielded one IED.

The others were Jerry Petelo alias Wawie and Romy Awayon alias Dondon who both surrendered to the 8th Special Forces Company on February 6. The two operated in the North Eastern Mindanao Revolutionary Committee in Bayugan City. They yielded one M16 rifle, one Garand rifle, one Carbine M1 and one lite anti-armor weapon.

Meanwhile, Dondon Quillano Maca alias Jason, an 18-year-old combatant, surrendered to the 4th CMO Battalion, 4th Infantry Division (4th ID) on February 6. He gave to authorities one M16 rifle with one 30-capacity magazine (banana type) and 30 rounds of light ammunition.

Arevalo also reported that five Abu Sayyaf members were killed following clashes between troops from the Marines Special Operations Group and the terrorist group in Capual, Sulu.

One Abu Sayyaf member was arrested after the encounter between the military and the group of Alhabsy Misaya numbering around 30.

The military, who did not sustain any casualty, recovered seven assorted high-powered firearms.