2 soldiers wounded in Batangas clash with NPAs

LUCENA CITY – Two soldiers were wounded in an encounter with suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Balayan town in Batangas province on Saturday, the military said Sunday.

In a statement, Colonel Teody Toribio, spokesperson of the military’s Southern Luzon Command, said the soldiers sustained minor injuries and were in stable condition in a military hospital. He said they were validating reports that the communist guerillas also sustained casualties.

The clash in Barangay (village) Patugo at about 8:30 a.m. foiled attacks planned by the rebels to celebrate the NPA’s founding anniversary on March 29, the military said.

“These are proactive actions to send a message to the enemies of the state that their actions against the people are futile,” Maj. Gen. Rhoderick Parayno, commander of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, said.

Toribio said concerned citizens informed a combat group from the Air Force about the consolidation of NPAs in Balayan which prompted a joint military-police operation.

The military said the rebels that they encountered were remnants of the NPA group operating in Batangas that lost 15 members in a firefight in Nasugbo town in November last year. /cbb