NPA fighters kill 3 a day after Aklan tagged free of rebs

ILOILO CITY—Communist rebels ambushed a government patrol in San Remigio, Antique, on Friday, killing a soldier and two militiamen a day after the Army declared the neighboring province of Aklan as insurgency-free.

The Antique police identified the fatalities in the 15-minute gunfire as Cpl. Absalon Labitan, 49, and militiamen Winnie Juayang, 36, and Vivencio Mutha, 31.

Their remains were brought to the Butiong Funeral Homes in the neighboring town of Sibalom, Antique.

At least 30 New People’s Army rebels took the victims’ rifles, ammunition and radio handset, police said.

The slain soldier and militiamen were part of a seven-member team who were on combat patrol in San Remigio, some 21 kilometers from the capital town of San Jose.

Soldiers from the 82nd Infantry Battalion were sent after the rebels, who were said to be under the Napoleon Tumagtang Command of the Southern Front Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines in Panay.

Timing

The attack came a day after the Army formally declared the provinces of Aklan and Leyte as insurgency-free.

Military and police officials, led by Army chief Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Bautista, signed on Thursday an agreement with Aklan officials in a ceremony at the Aklan Training Center in the capital town of Kalibo, Aklan.

The agreement called for more work to preserve peace in Aklan.

Bautista said Aklan was declared insurgency-free because there were no rebel attacks in the province for the past four years.

“This shows continued progress in securing peace in our country,” Bautista said in a phone interview.

“This declaration is significant for the province because this will encourage more investments that will create more jobs,” Aklan Gov. Carlito Marquez said.

Red hotbed

Aklan, which has 17 towns with 327 barangays, was a traditional hotbed of communist insurgency since the early 1970s until the 1980s.

Some of the top communist leaders came from the province, said Marquez.

Lt. Gen. Ralph Villanueva, head of the Central Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said Aklan and Leyte were among eight provinces in the Visayas declared as insurgency-free.

The six others include Cebu, Bohol, Biliran, Siquijor, Guimaras and Southern Leyte.

While military role in peace and order programs would be reduced, soldiers would keep a presence in these provinces.