2 ‘rebels’ slain in Agusan clash

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines — Two alleged New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas were killed in an encounter that resulted in the recovery of firearms and explosives in Las Nieves, Agusan del Norte on Wednesday.

Rey Torregosa and Juliven Badbaran were reportedly senior members of the NPA’s Northern Central Mindanao Regional Command, according to Brig. Gen. Adonis Ariel Orio, chief of the Army’s 402nd Brigade.

Torregosa and Badbaran were reportedly among a group of men who assaulted a team of soldiers patrolling in a secluded barangay in Las Nieves.

The assault triggered a running gunbattle that lasted two hours.

Orio said the other rebels scampered away when soldiers approaching from opposite directions cornered them.

Soldiers recovered three rifles and improvised explosive devices beside the bodies of Torregosa and Badbaran.