Militiaman killed, 2 others wounded in Camarines Sur clash

NAGA CITY, Philippines – A member of Philippine Army’s paramilitary unit in Bicol was killed and two others were wounded in an encounter with suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Camarines Sur Sunday morning, a military spokesman said.

Alvin Candelario, a member of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit Active Auxiliary (CAFGU-AA) under the 9th Infantry Division, was killed on the spot during a firefight with some 30 armed men in Sitio (sub-village) Sarabangan, Barangay (village) Tinalmod, Pasacao, Camarines Sur, at 10:15 a.m. Sunday, said Major Angelo Guzman, spokesman of Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Southern Luzon Command (Solcom) based in Camp Guillermo Nakar, Lucena City.

Guzman said Candelario and his squad encountered the suspected rebels while responding to an earlier call for security assistance from the people of the barangay.

He said two other CAAs were wounded in the same encounter. The firefight lasted for more or less 30 minutes.

Lieutenant Colonel Medel Aguilar, commander of 49th Infantry Battalion, explained that the names and other details on the wounded could not be released yet for “tactical reasons.”

Guzman said the village residents asked for the presence of the Army in their area after a civilian identified as Victorino Abioro, 55, a former member of the defunct government-organized Community Home Defense Force (CHDF), was killed on Sunday morning.

He said the body of Candelario was still in the encounter site and efforts were ongoing to recover his remains.

Guzman said they have coordinated with the Philippine National Police in Camarines Sur in investigating the killing.

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