120 families flee, 2 civilians killed

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines  â€“ An estimated 120 families have fled their homes in the hinterland villages and sub-villages of Sta. Catalina in Negros Oriental following sporadic fighting between Philippine Army troops and members of the New People’s Army (NPA) this week.

This was confirmed by Lt. Col. Marion Sison, commander of the 79th Infantry Battalion, in a telephone interview with Dumaguete media Wednesday evening.

According to Sison, the families have evacuated to safer ground to avoid being caught in the crossfire and hit by stray bullets as soldiers relentlessly pursued fully-armed men, believed to be rebels of the NPA’s Komiteng Rehiyon Sentral Bisayas-South East Front.

Sison said the Social Welfare and Development Office in Sta. Catalina was called in to secure and provide aid to the evacuees. It was not immediately ascertained however if the evacuees were staying in one evacuation site or spreading out or living temporarily with relatives.

Already, two soldiers were killed in action while another was wounded in running gunbattles and intense fighting since Monday at the height of the national and local elections.

Last Wednesday, a young girl, aged between 14 to 18, and a young man, around 20 years old, were reportedly killed in the gunbattle at the mountains of Sta. Catalina. Both remained unidentified but there were suspicions that they could be NPA members, Sison said.

The slain young man was abandoned and was retrieved by soldiers and turned over to the barangay captain of San Francisco, Sta. Catalina. The girl was seriously wounded, as shown in the trail of blood in the encounter site. The rebels could have brought the girl with them, said the military official.

The 79th IB, reinforced with helicopter gunships, had launched a tactical offensive against the armed group after alleged plans by the NPA to disrupt the elections had been uncovered, Sison said, adding that sporadic fighting has taken place in adjacent hinterland areas in Sta. Catalina, to include the villages of Milagrosa, Nagbalaye and San Francisco.

Meanwhile, Fr. Mark Vilos, who heads the San Francisco parish, disclosed that the families who fled their villages left behind their farms, agricultural crops and livestock for fear of their lives.

Vilos said the displaced families, many from the sub-village of Lambuanon in San Francisco, were told to leave and allegedly barred to return yet pending clearing operations by the soldiers.

Local officials wanted to bury the unidentified dead persons but the military was opposed to the idea, saying the family of the dead should claim the bodies, the priest added.  (FREEMAN)