Alleged NPA members nabbed in Ilocos Sur for Aug. 8 clash

FORT RAMON MAGSAYSAY, Palayan City – Two alleged members of the New People’s Army (NPA) were arrested on Friday (Aug. 14) in the Ilocos Sur town of Santa Lucia, according to the 7th Infantry Division (7ID) public affairs office stationed in Nueva Ecija.

Joel Sibali Banganan, 37, and Ranny Velle Urbis, 35, were supposedly part of the armed group that engaged soldiers in a firefight at Barangay (village) Suagayan in Santa Lucia on August 8.

Banganan is from Malibcong town in Abra province, while Urbis resides in Barangay Gimud Norte, San Juan town in Ilocos Sur, according to the Army. They were arrested by combined forces deployed by the Army’s 81st Infantry Battalion, the 703rd Infantry Brigade (under 7ID), and the Ilocos Sur provincial police office.

Banganan has fresh wounds at the back of his head and neck, which appear to be gunshot injuries he got during the Aug. 8 encounter, said Lt. Col. Rodrigo Mariñas Jr., 81IB commanding officer

Banganan is facing a rebellion case, while Urbis had been previously charged for frustrated murder, the military reported. They are currently under police custody.