LEGAZPI CITY – Two New People’s Army (NPA) rebels were killed while another was captured following an encounter Monday with Army troops in a remote village in Caramoan town in Camarines Sur, the military said.
Killed in the firefight were Mike Rebuya, alias “Nike,” and a certain “Ka Ronel,” said Major Angelo Guzman, spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Southern Luzon Command (Solcom).
The slain rebels were both members of the guerrilla front operating in Camarines Sur led by a Francisco Mendoza alias Ka Pedio, Guzman said.
Guzman said 21 Army soldiers belonging to the 83rd Infantry Battalion were in a combat operation in the village of Gibgos at around 10:20 a.m. when they encountered a 14-man NPA unit, resulting in a running gun battle that lasted about 15 minutes.
The rebels fled to different directions after two of their comrades were killed but one was captured by pursuing soldiers. The military has withheld his identity.