BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — A police officer was killed in an encounter with New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Sitio Malabagan, Barangay Bangnen, Bauko, Mountain Province yesterday.
Maj. Mark Pespes of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 15 identified the fatality as Patrolman Wilfredo Padawil, a native of Sagada.
Pespes said government forces were patrolling the area when they were attacked.
Police said NPA rebels also suffered casualties, citing bloodstains on the enemy’s escape route.
Communist insurgents vowed to intensify its attacks to mark its 50th anniversary yesterday.
In Negros Occidental, two guns and a rifle grenade were turned over by an NPA amazon who surrendered to the 62nd Infantry Battalion.
First Lt. Maria Allein Cruz said the rebel returnee was a former medical officer based in Himamaylan City.
Rebel returnees
Cruz said the NPA amazon was among 10 rebel returnees who would receive government assistance under the Enhanced-Comprehensive Local Integrattion Program or E-CLIP of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
Forty-nine other former rebels in Agusan del Sur, Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley also received benefits under the E-CLIP.
The Department of National Defense said the former rebels also received food packs from the Department of Social Welfare and Development, firearms remuneration and livelihood assistance.
Housing assistance and skills training for the rebel returnees are also being processed. – Gilbert Bayoran, Michael Punongbayan