4 rebels slain

LUCENA CITY—Four suspected New People’s Army rebels were killed in an encounter with Army soldiers in Lopez, Quezon, on Friday, said Col. Eduardo Año, head of the Army’s 201st Infantry Brigade.

A group of soldiers were in Barangay Peñafrancia to verify the reported presence of armed men in the area when they engaged about 10 rebels in a firefight  at around 12:10 p.m. He said the rebels retreated to different directions, leaving behind  their slain and wounded comrades. Año said the three other rebels who were critically wounded in the gun battle also died later.

“The ambulance was already at the site to bring the wounded rebels to the hospital but they did not make it,” Año said over the phone. He identified the three dead rebels as Rogelio Monterde, alias “Ka Bibit;” one alias “Ka Jun,” and one alias “Ka Lila.” The fourth rebel has yet to be identified. Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon