Army officer killed in clash with rebels in Negros Oriental

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines—An Army officer died and another soldier was wounded Tuesday in an encounter between government troopers and communist rebels in Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental.

Colonel Pio Dinoso, commanding officer of the Army’s 79th Infantry Battalion, identified the fatality as Captain Wilson Montenegro, single, from Tarlac province and the wounded soldier as Private First Class Rocky B. Javier.

Dinoso said the rebels sustained an undetermined number of casualties.

He said the 2nd Scout Ranger company headed by Montenegro encountered about 30 members of the New People’s Army in Sitio (sub-village) Avocado, Barangay (village) Talalak, Sta. Catalina at about 9 a.m. Tuesday. The 1st Scout Ranger company provided reinforcements.

Two helicopters from the Armed Forces of the Philippines Central Command arrived in Negros Oriental Wednesday morning to ferry troops to the area, Dinoso said.

The government troops were still pursuing the rebels, he added.

Colonel Samuel Bagasin, commander of the 1st Scout Ranger regiment was to arrive in Negros Oriental Wednesday afternoon to give a medal to Javier, who was recuperating in a private hospital in Dumaguete City.