Gov’t troops turn over to families the remains of slain rebels in Negros Occidental

Negros Occidental map

BACOLOD CITY––Soldiers and police turned over the remains of two suspected rebels killed on March 9 in an encounter in Isabela town, Negros Occidental to their families.

The Guihulngan City and Isabela Task-Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict facilitated the turn-over of the remains of Virgilio Tamban and Ben Jack Rueles.

MGen. Benedict Arevalo, 3rd Infantry (Spearhead) Division commander, awarded Military Merit Medals (MMM) with Spearhead Device the 62nd Infantry “Unifier” Battalion troops.

Twenty-four personnel from the Scout Platoon led by 1LT Kim Hope Barquilla were awarded MMMs with Spearhead Device for their heroic achievement during an encounter with 10 rebels in Isabela. Two of them were also awarded medals.

The Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army (NPA) slammed the Armed Forces of the Philippines for what they claimed was the murder on March 9 of captured Red fighters of the NPA-Central Negros in Isabela.

The said soldiers of the 62nd Infantry Battalion and police forces murdered Tamban and Rueles after being captured in a raid on a house in Barangay Amin.

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