Alleged NPA leader captured, 2 killed in Camarines Sur clash

LEGAZPI CITY – Two suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels were killed and their wounded leader captured in a clash on Wednesday with Army troops in Barangay (village)San Vicente, Iriga City, Camarines Sur, police said Thursday.

Army soldiers captured Edgardo Sevilla, allegedly a member of the NPA executive committee in Albay, while his companion — identified only as “Ka Jeff” and “Ka Tony” — were killed during the five-minute firefight, according to Superintendent Renato Bataller, spokesman of the Philippine National Police in Bicol.

Bataller, in an text message, said joint elements of the Army’s 42nd Infantry Battalion, 9th Infantry Division’s Military Intelligence Group and Intelligence Service-Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) were on a special operation against the communist movement when the group

encountered the rebels led by Sevilla in Zone 7, Barangay (village) San Vicente in Iriga City at around 4:29 p.m.

Sevilla was wounded on his leg and was later captured by government troops while two others fled.

Sevilla is facing a string of criminal cases in various local courts in Albay, Bataller said.

Soldiers recovered a 9-millimeter pistol, a 45. Caliber handgun and a hand grenade, he said.

Sevilla was brought to the Bicol Medical Center (BMC) in Naga City for treatment and later was transferred to an Army detention center for tactical interrogation, according to Bataller.