15 NPAs, including 5 women, killed in clashes

BATANGAS, Philippines — Fifteen suspected members of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) were killed while three others were wounded in two separate encounters with government troops in Nasugbu town on Tuesday evening, police said.

Batangas police director Senior Supt. Alden Delvo said the rebels were killed following clashes with joint elements of the Air Force 730th Combat Group, Batangas and Nasugbu police deployed following reports that armed men were spotted in Sitio Pinamintasan in Barangay Aya.

Chief Insp. Jay Pineda, Nasugbu police chief, told The STAR that the first encounter happened at around 8 p.m. when the NPA rebels on board a jeepney and a closed van fired at the vehicles of government troops deployed in the area.

The policemen and soldiers responded to a report from concerned residents regarding the presence of armed rebels in the area.

Five rebels were killed on site while two others were wounded after the 20-minute gunbattle and were brought to the hospital.

Three soldiers were also wounded during the clash.

One of the two wounded rebels brought to a local hospital later died. She was identified as Josephine Santiago Lapera alias Ella, 22, of Marikina.

Insp. Hazel Luma-ang, spokesperson for the Batangas provincial police, said Lapera was a student of the University of the Philippines.

The other wounded rebel Victoriano Almario is now recuperating.

The wounded soldiers were identified as Major Engelbert Nioda Jr., Second Lieutenant Eliso Incierto, both from the Air Force, and Army Technical Sgt. Kenneth Lopez.

A second encounter ensued in Sitio Batulao, Barangay Kaylaway around two kilometers from the first firefight.

This time nine communist rebels, including five women, were killed while no casualty was reported on the government’s side.

Twelve long firearms and an M79 grenade launcher were recovered from the slain rebels.

Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) police director Chief Supt. Mao Aplasca said that those killed were aged 18 to 25 and believed to be members of the NPA Eduardo Dagle Command.

“Based on documents we recovered, there’s an indication that one of those neutralized is a high ranking official of the NPA,” he added. 

The troopers recovered nine rifles from the rebels. Aplasca said the rebels could be planning tactical offensive operations against military and police units in the region.

“The encounter so far produced the biggest number of casualties on the side of the rebels and is a big blow to the NPA. We have been tracking their movements for two months and we can expect another encounter soon if they don’t vacate Calabarzon,” said Aplasca.

Authorities said the casualties are believed to be remnants of the NPA unit that clashed with Air Force troops under Maj. Engelberto Nioda in Barangay Utod also in Nasugbu last Nov. 20. 

President Duterte had recently ordered the termination of peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front (CPP-NDF) after the rebels committed several atrocities. 

Major Gen. Rhoderick Parayno, commander of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, said that the NPA rebels in the region have been on the run since September.

“This is in line with the President’s pronouncement that NPAs are terrorists. Your soldiers are more committed than ever to push harder and finally put an end to this insurgency in order to protect the Filipino people from fear and atrocities which the NPA terrorists plan to sow while ensuring the safety of our citizens in the area,” Parayno stressed.

The military and police have launched pursuit operations against the other rebel groups.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is open to any investigation surrounding the killing of the 15 NPA guerrillas in Batangas.

“We are not hiding anything. We are open to any investigation as to what really happened. It was a legitimate operation. Rules of engagement were observed. In fact, four on our side were also wounded,” said Brig. Gen. Arnulfo Burgos Jr.,  commander of the Laguna-based Army 202nd Infantry Brigade.

Burgos was referring to an Air Force major and a police inspector and two other government forces who were wounded in the fighting. 

He issued this statement in response to a call made by self-exiled CPP founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to conduct a probe on the incident.

Sison said that CHR should look into this if only to establish if fighting between the soldiers and the NPAs really took place, as claimed by the military.

“You really cannot trust the claims of false news being generated by the psy-war officers of Duterte’s Army. The same way you cannot trust the false news from his troll army. I think the human rights organization should be able to go there and investigate whether there has been a real fight between the NPAs and the reactionary army,” Sison said.

Meanwhile, there were reports that the NPA will revive the rebel assassination squad called Sparrow Unit in Iloilo City.

Iloilo City police chief Senior Supt. Henry Biñas said he received the text message from a civilian friend about the Sparrow deployment in the city.

“The report is not validated. That’s why we ask the public not to panic and not spread the message anymore,” he said.

Biñas said their intelligence units have not indicated the presence of the Sparrow Unit in the area.

Senior Insp. Shella Mae Sangrines, Iloilo City police spokesperson, appealed to the public “to immediately report any suspicious persons or activities in your barangay in our hotline numbers 09083770194 or 337-0400.” –Emmanuel Tupas, Jaime Laude, Michael Punongbayan, Ed Amoroso, Jennifer Rendon