Army soldiers clash with NPA rebels looking for food in Quezon province
LUCENA CITY –– Army soldiers on search-and-rescue mission clashed with a group of alleged New People’s Army (NPA) rebels, who were searching for food and other resources, in General Nakar town in Quezon province on Sunday.
Captain Jayrald Ternio, head of the public affairs office of the Philippine Army’s 2nd Infantry Division based in Tanay, Rizal, reported that the soldiers engaged at least seven typhoon-weary NPA rebels in Barangay Pasangahan on the Sierra Madre mountain ranges around 9:15 a.m.
A five-minute firefight ensued, which ended with the communist guerillas retreating in different directions. No casualties were reported, Ternio said in a statement Monday.
“According to the villagers in the area, the ragtag band of terrorists was asking for food,” Ternio said in an online interview.
Brigadier General Alex Rillera, commander of the Army’s 202nd Infantry Brigade said the soldiers were conducting “humanitarian assistance and disaster response” (HADR) missions to help the mountain villagers after the onslaught of Typhoon “Ulysses” (Vamco) when they encountered the NPA rebels.
Rillera said: “The soldiers could have given them (NPA) food and relief goods if they asked for it instead of compelling the poor and typhoon-stricken locals to provide the provisions for them.”
Article continues after this advertisementMajor General Greg Almerol, commander of the Army’s 2nd ID, condemned the marauding activities of the NPA rebels.
Article continues after this advertisement“We are still helping our fellowmen who were devastated by recent
typhoons, and yet these rebels are continuing to endanger the lives of the people who they claim they are for,” Almerol said.
He called on the remaining NPA rebels operating in the Southern Tagalog region to peacefully surrender and return to the fold of the law.
The 2nd ID has deployed 86 “search, rescue, and retrieval” (SRR) teams in typhoon-affected places in the region.
On Thursday, government soldiers, also on a rescue mission to help typhoon victims, engaged NPA rebels in Macalelon town in the Bondoc Peninsula district. No casualties were reported during the 50-minute gun battle.
