2 killed in firefight between gov’t troops, suspected NPA rebels in Bohol

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol — A soldier and an armed man believed to be a member of the New People’s Army (NPA) were killed in a firefight in Bilar town on Saturday.

According to First Lieutenant Elma Grace Remonde, Civil Military Officer of the Army’s 47th Infantry Batallion based in Bohol, said government troops chanced upon undetermined number of armed men in Barangay Cambigsi in Bilar town, resulting in an encounter at 9 a.m.

Remonde said two persons were killed in the encounter — a soldier whom she did not identify pending notification to his family and an armed man believed to be a communist rebel.

She added that the police and the military had already deployed forces in the area for hot pursuit operations.

Bohol has been considered insurgency-free for over a decade. However, in 2018 sightings of armed men in some towns were reported by residents.