5 killed in clash between soldiers, rebels in Camarines Norte

NAGA CITY, Philippines—Two children, a suspected rebel leader and a man were killed while a girl was wounded inside a house on Saturday afternoon in Barangay (village) Malaya in Labo town, Camarines Norte, during an encounter between suspected communist rebels and soldiers, a Philippine Army official said on Sunday.

Lieutenant Colonel Epimaco Macalisang, commander of the 49th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army in Camarines Norte, identified the minors killed in the crossfire as brothers Michael, 10, and Richard, 7, both surnamed Manzera, while their sister Leonez, 14, was wounded in the thigh.

Macalisang identified the slain man as Benjamin Manzera whom Leonez pointed to as her father.  She told authorities that her mother, whose name the Army had yet to determine, was in Manila at the time of the encounter.

The Army official could not say if Benjamin was a New People’s Army (NPA) rebel or a “militia” of the NPA but explained that a firearm was near his body when found by soldiers scouring the house after the rebels fled.

He identified the slain NPA rebel as Rafael Llanto, alias “Ka Gopi,” allegedly vice commander of the regional guerilla unit operating in Bicol.

Macalisang said Leonez was taken by Army soldiers to the Camarines Norte Provincial Hospital and that he was in safe condition.

He said they had coordinated with the police in investigating the encounter, particularly since civilian minors were killed and wounded.

The two firearms that the military recovered – an M16 rifle and an M14 – have been turned over to the Scene of Crime Operatives (Soco) of the Camarines Norte police, he said.

Major Angelo Guzman, 9th  Army  Infantry Division spokesman, said  in a separate interview that the soldiers from the 49th Infantry Battalion were in the area responding to a report from a villager about the presence of at least 15 communist rebels in Malaya, an outskirt village of Labo town.

Guzman said that at about 1 p.m. Saturday, while  the Army troopers  were approaching a nipa hut, NPA rebels armed with high-powered assault rifles inside the hut fired at the soldiers, which led to a 10-minute gunfight.

Guzman said soldiers clearing the areas later discovered that there were two minors caught in the crossfire and requested the Soco to conduct an investigation.

Major General Josue Gaverza, commander of the Army’s 9th Infantry Division based in Camp Elias Angeles in Pili, Camarines Sur, said he was condoling with the family of the slain children but blamed the tragedy on the rebels, whom he said fired the first shot.

“I have offered the Army’s assistance to the bereaved family members of the slain civilians. I am equally saddened by this unfortunate incident wherein these innocent civilians are caught in the crossfire. I have requested the PNP [Philippine National Police] authorities in Camarines Norte to conduct a thorough investigation regarding this encounter,” said Gaverza.