Soldier killed in NPA clash with Army in Quezon

LUCENA CITY – An Army soldier was killed in an encounter with suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Tagkawayan town in Quezon province on Friday, police said.

Senior Supt. Osmundo de Guzman, Quezon police chief, identified the casualty as Corporal Rene Belga, from the Army’s Delta Company, 22nd Infantry Battalion based in a military detachment in Barangay (village) Maquibuay.

Police said the soldiers were conducting a civil-military operation in the said village at around 1:30 p.m. when they encountered an undetermined number of communist rebels, triggering the clash.

According to police, the encounter lasted for about 20 minutes and ended after the rebels retreated.

Checkpoints have been placed to block all possible exits of the retreating rebels, police said. /muf