Soldiers, cops clash with NPAs

MANILA, Philippines — A few minutes before the voting started, Army soldiers and police officers figured in an encounter with five suspected New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas in Albay yesterday morning.

Troopers and intelligence officers of the Army’s 49th Infantry Battalion (IB) backed by local policemen were on patrol in Barangay Maogog, Jovellar town when they chanced upon the guerrillas at around 5:30 a.m., according to Army spokesman Col. Xerxes Trinidad.

The encounter occurred two kilometers away from the village’s nearest polling center.

The firefight lasted 15 minutes before the rebels, reportedly led by a certain Nelson Chua, retreated toward the jungle.

The officers recovered a rifle, pistol and propaganda materials at the scene of the encounter.

No one among the police and military officers was hurt in the firefight.

Trinidad expressed belief that the insurgents suffered casualties or injuries.