Soldiers overrun NPA camp in Quezon

LUCENA CITY—The military believes their soldiers foiled the plan of New People’s Army rebels to stage attacks against government and private facilities with the discovery of an alleged rebel camp in Lopez town in Quezon province, a military report said Tuesday. Col. Teody Toribio, spokesman of the military’s Southern Luzon Command (Solcom), said patrolling soldiers from the Army’s 85th Infantry Battalion encountered about 20 suspected NPA rebels in the remote village of Jongo around 10 a.m. Monday. After 15 minutes of firefight, the communist guerrillas retreated in different directions. During the clearing operations, the soldiers discovered a rebel camp with 15 makeshift huts that can accommodate more than 30 persons. The troops also recovered two M16 rifles, one M203 grenade launcher, six containers with assorted explosives and blasting caps, five sacks of rice, one generator set and personal belongings left behind by escaping rebels. “With that number of huts and the supplies found in the encounter site, they are possibly planning to conduct terroristic actions in the area targeting the nearest government vital installations, AFP camps/detachments and PNP stations,” Lt General Danilo Pamonag, Solcom commander, said in a statement. Pamonag said soldiers and policemen were tracking down the rebels and conducting checkpoints on all possible routes. The military report claimed some of the NPA rebels were wounded. No soldiers were injured in the firefight.# Delfin T. Mallari Jr.