Two suspected New People’s Army rebels were killed in an encounter with soldiers of the 11th Infantry Battalion in Binalbagan, Negros Occidental, Saturday.

Lt. Col. Franco Nemesio Gacal, 11th Infantry Battalion commander, yesterday said the two slain rebels, one of them identified as Freddie Taob of La Libertad, Negros Oriental, were left behind by their comrades after a 30-minute gunbattle with soldiers.

The fleeing rebels, estimated at 15, also abandoned two rifle grenades, 110 ammunition for an M-16 assault rifle and various firearms, combat and civilian packs containing medicines, assorted personal belongings and subversive documents, Gacal said.

Gacal said the gunbattle came three days after Nilda Natan Bertulano, secretary of the Kilusang Larangan- Central Negros, was apprehended in La Carlota City, Negros Occidental, by virtue of an arrest warrant for the crime of destructive arson, with no bail recommended.

Soldiers of the 11th IB led by 1Lt. Danilo Mutoc responded to reports of civilians of the presence of about 15 fully-armed rebels in Sitio Nabilog, Brgy. Amontay, Binalbagan, which led to the gunbattle and deaths of two alleged rebels.

 “The successive setbacks of the NPA in central Negros will surely demoralize their members,” Gacal said, who acknowledged the timely information from Amontay barangay residents on the presence of armed men in their place.*GPB

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