BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – A firefight broke out on Thursday morning (Feb. 9) in a remote village in Santo Niño town in Cagayan province as government troopers pursued suspected New People’s Army rebels who killed an Army soldier on Wednesday (Feb. 8).
Private 1st Class Rowel Tabuada was killed in the 4 p.m. encounter between the suspected rebels and an Army squad led by 2Lt. Leonardo Faura at a forested area near the municipal boundaries of Rizal and Santo Niño.
READ: Soldier killed in clash with NPA in Cagayan
Lt. Col. Rembert Baylosis, commander of the Army’s 17th Infantry Battalion, said soldiers belonging to the Bravo company pursued the rebels and engaged them in battle near Balanni village.
A statement from Crispin Apolinario, spokesperson of the NPA’s Danilo Ben Command, said the rebels attacked 17th IB soldiers who were engaged in military operations in the area.
“This is in response to (President Rodrigo) Duterte’s declaration of an all-out war and termination of peace talks,” he said. CDG/rga