1 soldier killed in clash with NPA rebels in Misamis Oriental

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – A soldier was killed in a clash with New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Sugbongcogon, Misamis Oriental on Monday.

Captain Joe Patrick Martinez, spokesperson of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, has confirmed that a government soldier was killed in the clash in Barangay Kaulayanan, but declined to identify the fatality pending notification of his family.

Also on Monday, troops from the 30th Infantry Battalion figured in an encounter with armed men believed to be NPA members in Barangay Tinago, Malimono, Surigao del Norte.

Reports said the rebels detonated an improvised explosive device which resulted to the injury of a soldier.

Martinez said pursuit operations were conducted by the military against the attackers.

The clashes came in the wake of the NPA attacks on a power plant site and a plantation last Saturday in Bukidnon.

A report from the 4th ID said about 15 NPA fighters entered the compound of the proposed site for the 10.6-megawatt Pulanai hydroelectric power plant Barangay Lumbayao in Valencia City, Bukidnon.

The military said the suspects confiscated the cellphones of workers, then fired several shots after planting a couple of improvised explosive device (IEDs) at the compound.

A team from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal from the 8th Infantry Battalion was sent to go after the rebels.

Last December, President Duterte visited the site for power plant’s groundbreaking rites. In his speech, Duterte pleaded with the NPA to spare the project from attacks.

The President said the Pulanai plant, owned and operated by Repower Energy Development Corp., is one of the power generation facilities seen to boost the economic activity in the area.

On the same day, another group of NPA rebels burned down two spray trucks owned by Davao Agricultural Ventures Corp. (Davco) in Barangay Merangiran, Quezon town, Bukidnon.

Police investigators said the motive for the torching of the Davco equipment could be due to the company’s refusal to pay what the NPA called as “revolutionary tax” but what authorities considered as mere extortion. JE