Soldier killed in clash with rebels in Sorsogon

LEGAZPI CITY – An Army soldier was killed and another was wounded in a clash on Saturday with New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in a remote village in the town of Gubat town in Sorsogon, a Philippine Army officer said.

Captain Marjorie Panesa, public affairs chief of the Army’s 9th Infantry Division based in Bicol, said a 9-man Army team were on a “Bayanihan” mission in Barangay (village) Benguet, Gubat, at about 8:30 a.m. on Saturday when they chanced upon a group of about 10 communist rebels.

The encounter led to a firefight that killed a member of the Army team and wounded another, Panesa said.

Panesa said they could not release the names of the slain and wounded soldiers because they had yet to inform the families of the victims.

The communist rebels fled following a five-minute firefight, she said, adding that Army troopers were in hot pursuit operation.