6 soldiers killed, 20 wounded in Eastern Samar encounter

SULAT, Eastern Samar, Philippines — Six soldiers were killed and 20 other government troopers were wounded in an encounter with New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in this province on Monday.

Col. Camilo Ligayo, 801st Infantry Brigade commander, identified the fatalities as Cpls. Ronald Go and Limar Banug, Pfcs. Kent Loyd Agullo and Junmar Buranday, Sgt. Rex Jadulco and Pvt. Charlie del Rosario.

Ligayo said an NPA guerrilla was also killed in the clash.

The wounded soldiers were airlifted to a military hospital at Camp Lukban, the headquarters of the Army’s 8th Infantry Division.

The military said the gunfight erupted when soldiers were deployed to check the reported presence of NPA rebels and a bomb-making factory in Barangay Pinanag-an in Borongan City.

Prior to the gunfight, Ligayo said the rebels detonated eight improvised explosive devices.

“They are our new heroes, they who risked their lives for the country. We will not stop until we attain real peace in Eastern Visayas,” he told The STAR.

Troops from various military detachments were deployed as reinforcement. Clearing operations were ongoing yesterday.

Last month, the military dropped 500-pound bombs on an NPA lair at the outskirts of Las Navas in Northern Samar.

The  Eastern Visayas Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict has identified 38 priority areas in the campaign against communist insurgency in the region.

In Eastern Samar, 12 barangays were identified as hotbeds of communist rebels. – With Jaime Laude