3 slain in Negros encounter

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — Three suspected remnants of dismantled factions of the New People’s Army (NPA) were killed in an encounter in Kabankalan, Negros Occidental yesterday.

The encounter broke out as soldiers of the Army’s 47th Infantry Battalion were responding to reports about a group of armed men extorting residents in Barangay Tampalon.

The men were reportedly remnants of the dismantled South West Front and Regional Strike Force of the NPA.

Capt. Jessie Jun Ebalan, chief of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division’s public affairs office, said the firefight lasted two minutes and resulted in the death of three rebels and recovery of several firearms and explosives.