Lawmen identify 8 of 11 slain rebels in Quezon clash

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LUCENA CITY—Lawmen have identified 8 of the 11 New People’s Army rebels slain in a fierce 30-minute gun battle in the remote village of White Cliff, San Narciso, Quezon on Saturday.

Senior Supt. Val de Leon, Quezon police chief, on Tuesday identified the eight casualties as Armando Albarillo, Rosario Olvinar and husband Eduardo, Renier Rodrigo, Darwin Amay, Jerome Guevarra, Benjo Endonilla and Josie Fuentes.

De Leon, however, withheld the identity of a 17 year-old female. Two others remained unidentified by authorities.

An earlier police report said three of the 11 slain rebels were female warriors.

Col. Eduardo Ano, commander of the Army’s 201st Infantry Brigade, earlier tagged Albarillo, alias “Ka Jun,” as the commander of the NPA unit operating in Quezon’s Bondoc Peninsula district, a known bastion of communist insurgents in the Southern Tagalog region.

Año said the encounter occurred shortly before noontime when elements from the Army’s 74th Infantry Battalion surprised around 15 communist rebels in Sitio Macuyo-Cuyo in Barangay White Cliff.

He said the soldiers engaged the guerrillas in a gun battle before the remaining rebels retreated in different directions.

Recovered in the encounter scene were M16 rifles—5; M203-1, M79-1, and shotgun-1.

Año said the NPAs were about to launch a major offensive against soldiers and policemen passing the Mulanay-San Narciso road when overpowered by the Army soldiers.

White Cliff is a four-hour hike in rugged terrain from the nearest road.

One soldier, only identified as Private First Class Badulid, was slightly wounded in his lower left arm during the clash, said Corporal Risman Balasta, leader of the nine-man Army squad that engaged the rebels in the clash.