Soldier killed in Davao clash

New People’s Army rebels operating in Mindanao say they are ready to fight the military. —CHRIS V. PANGANIBAN

DAVAO CITY—A junior Army officer was killed while two others were wounded in a clash with communist rebels in this city, President Duterte’s hometown, on Thursday, only three days after the President ordered the military to crush the New People’s Army (NPA).

The clash happened at Paquibato district here as the military awaited the arrival of troops from Luzon to finish off the NPA threat in Mindanao within a year.

Maj. Ezra Balagtey, spokesperson for the military’s Eastern Mindanao Command, identified the slain officer as First Lt. Jarren Relota of the 16th Infantry Battalion.

Balagtey said soldiers were checking reports of NPA presence at Sitio Quimbao in Barangay Mapula at 4 p.m. on Thursday when the clash ensued.

Reinforcement

Col. Ernesto Torres, commander of the Army’s 1003rd Infantry Brigade based in Davao del Norte, said the military was keen on wiping out communist rebels in a year by deploying more troops from Luzon in Mindanao.

Torres said soldiers from the 56th Infantry Battalion from Aurora province would be arriving in Davao del Norte soon to augment troops in the province.

“With the addition of one battalion, we would be in a better position to defeat the NPA threats in Metro Davao,” said Torres, whose jurisdiction also covers parts of Davao City.

On top of this, the Philippine Army will also bring soldiers from its 901st Infantry Brigade based in Camarines Sur province to North Cotabato province, where the NPA insurgency has been raging.

‘Lumad’ soldiers

Torres, also the martial law spokesperson in Mindanao, said his brigade had also been given supervision and command of 80 “lumad” (indigenous peoples) soldiers and two companies, or 240 men, of Special Civilian Armed Auxiliaries (SCAA).

The SCAA militiamen have been sent to Davao City under the antiterror Task Force Davao.

In Cagayan de Oro City, 500 soldiers of the 65th Infantry Battalion of the 9th Infantry Division (ID) who were previously assigned in Lanao del Sur province were sent to Northern Mindanao and Caraga regions to fight the NPA.

Capt. Joe Patrick Martinez, 4th ID spokesperson, said their combat experience from the battle with terrorists in Marawi City would help them fight communist rebels in the area.

“These are battle-hardened soldiers,” Martinez said, adding that majority of the NPA forces in Mindanao were concentrated in Caraga, Northern Mindanao and Compostela Valley province in Davao region where half of the communist forces nationwide were based.

Communist rebels, however, remained unperturbed by the military deployment.

“The NPA is ever ready to wage war to protect the rights and welfare of the oppressed and exploited people,” said Ka Dencio Madrigal, spokesperson for the NPA’s Valentin Palamine Command in North Cotabato.

President Duterte reiterated his order to the military to crush the communist insurgency during a command conference in Compostela Valley on Monday. —WITH REPORTS FROM ELDIE AGUIRRE AND JIGGER JERUSALEM