2 soldiers killed, 3 wounded in Quezon clash

LUCENA CITY — At least two government soldiers were killed and three others were wounded in a clash with communist rebels in General Nakar town in Quezon province on Thursday afternoon, an Army official said Friday.

Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang, commander of the Army’s 80th Infantry Battalion based in northern Quezon, said he had yet to receive reports on the number of casualties from the New People’s Army as they did not recover bodies from the clash site in the Sierra Madre mountain ranges.

“But we believe that the enemies also suffered casualties,” he said.

But Senior Insp. Leonardo Suaverdez, General Nakar police chief, said information relayed by residents of mountain villages in the town showed that at least 10 communist rebels were killed in the clash.

“I’ve already dispatched my men to validate the information and recover the bodies. We will also help track down the fleeing rebels,” he said on Friday.

The NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, celebrated its 48th founding anniversary on March 29.

Cabangbang said 40 Army soldiers were on combat patrol at 2 p.m. Thursday when they clashed with more than 30 NPA rebels in Barangay Lumutan. The firefight lasted for more than two hours.

The remains of the two soldiers, whose identities were withheld by Cabangbang, were taken to a funeral parlor in Tanay town in Rizal province.

Two of the wounded soldiers were taken to the V. Luna military hospital in Quezon City. JE/rga