Army overruns NPA camp in Abra that guerrillas say doesn’t exist

BAGUIO CITY–The Army said it overran a New People’s Army (NPA) encampment following separate clashes with the guerrillas in Pilar town, Abra province on Sunday (Feb. 2).

Cordillera police said the 73rd Reconnaissance Company recovered guns, magazines and ammunition from the rebel’s camp at the village of Nagcanasan after a 20-minute firefight with some 30 guerrillas at 2 p.m.

Earlier, a squad of the 69th Infantry Battalion figured in another clash with five guerrillas around 1 p.m. while on patrol at the village of Ocup near Nagcanasan.

Abra police said soldiers captured two farmers who were later released after authorities failed to get evidence that they were communist rebels.

But Florencio Baluga, alias “Ka Bram”, spokesperson of the Abra-based Agustin Begnalen Command of the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA, said guerrillas have no unit operating in Pilar or areas nearby who may have set up camp in the area and clashed with soldiers.

Edited by TSB