3 soldiers dead in Masbate clash

LEGAZPI CITY – Suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA) killed three Philippine Army (PA) soldiers in an encounter on Friday morning in a remote village in Cawayan town in Masbate province, a police report said.

The identities of the slain soldiers were not yet available as of press time, according to Senior Inspector Maria Luisa Calubaquib, spokesperson of Bicol police.

Calubaquib, quoting a report, said a group of soldiers from the Army’s 2nd Infantry Battalion were on patrol operations when they were reportedly waylaid by an undetermined number of NPA rebels around 8:30 a.m. Friday in Barangay (village) Mactan.

The government troops were able to retaliate and engage the NPA rebels in a fierce gun battle where an undetermined number of rebels were killed, the report said.

Police units in adjacent towns have set up checkpoints in strategic locations where the NPA rebels and their wounded companions could have passed through.

Police and military operatives were directed to check hospitals and clinic to verify if there were patients admitted due to gunshot wounds.