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TACLOBAN CITY––Suspected New People’s Army (NPA) members on Tuesday shot dead a soldier in Las Navas town, Northern Samar.
The rebels shot Sgt. Marlon Baysa in his head while he was giving a message to Barangay San Francisco residents observing the “Flores de Mayo” celebration around 9:30 p.m.
Captain Valben Almirante, a civil-military officer of the 20th Infantry Battalion based in the same town, said the slain soldier was the team leader of the community support program of the Army’s peace and development operation.
He said the shooting of Baysa was a retaliation by the rebels as many NPA members and sympathizers in the village had surrendered to the government.
Baysa’s body was brought to the Catubig District Hospital in Catubig town for post-mortem examination.
Col. Perfecto Peñaredondo, the commanding officer of the 803rd brigade officer, expressed his condolences to the family of Baysa for his “heroism” in support of the government campaign to end the insurgency.