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ROXAS CITY, Capiz, Philippines – A soldier was killed in an encounter between Army soldiers and communist rebels in Barangay Tacayan in Tapaz town, Capiz, on Saturday.
The lone fatality was identified as Private First Class Maximo Macolbacol, 22, and a resident of San Remigio town in Antique, said Major Enrico Gil Ileto, spokesperson of the 3rd Infantry Division.
Soldiers belonging to the 61st Battalion under Col. Christopher Sab-it went to the mountain village of Tacayan about 6:30 a.m., on Saturday, to check on reports about the presence of armed men in the area, said Sab-it.
The soldiers, however, were fired upon by a group of 20 New People’s Army rebels, he added. An exchange of gunfire ensued and the rebels retreated to the mountains.
Macolbacol was airlifted by helicopter to the Roxas Memorial Provincial Hospital in Roxas City where he eventually died.
He left behind a wife and a child.
Tapaz is a hotbed of insurgency on Panay Island. Its hinterland barangay (villages) have become the battleground between government troops and communist rebels.