The Provincial Inter-Agency Legal Assistance Group filed Tuesday charges of illegal possession of a firearm, explosives and ammunition against suspected members of the communist New People’s Army following an encounter with government troops Sunday evening in Canlaon City, Negros Oriental.

Killed during the clash were Beverly Pableo alias Merly, 47, married, and Felix Ogang Remobata, alias Rikrik, 19, single, of Sitio Iliranan, Barangay Codcod in San Carlos, Negros Occidental.

Provincial police director and PIALAG head, Sr. Supt. Augusto Marquez Jr., said he has formed a task force to investigate the circumstances behind the encounter which left two suspected NPA rebels dead, three others wounded and another captured.

In that incident, a team from the Alpha Company of the 11th Infantry Battalion engaged in a 20-minute firefight with some 10 suspected rebels at a house owned by the Pableos at Exodus Avenue, Barangay Panubigan in Canlaon.

Wounded were Porferio Pableo, husband of Beverly, 51, Jimmy Tecson Calago, 26, single, and Geovane Ogang, 28, both also from Sitio Iliranan, Brgy. Codcod, San Carlos.

Another suspected rebel, identified as Francisco Ogang Bailing, 21, single, also of Barangay Codcod, was captured during the encounter.

Recovered were three rifle grenades, a M2 Carbine rifle and several rounds of ammunition.

Marquez said they will conduct a full investigation on the encounter following complaints from the barangay captain and residents of Codcod, San Carlos who claimed that the army operation was not legitimate.

Marquez said that Special investigator Jess Cañete of the Commission on Human Rights will also conduct a motu propio or independent probe on the incident.

He added that he welcomes the CHR investigation to avoid accusations of a whitewash considering the circumstances behind the clash.

Marquez also disclosed that the captured suspected NPA guerilla also admitted in a media interview that they were, indeed, members of the rebel movement.

The dead have been turned over to their families, while two of the wounded are in a hospital in San Carlos and the other in a hospital in Canlaon.

The captured “rebel” is also detained at the Canlaon police station.

Marquez said army and police personnel are providing round-the-clock security for the wounded and captured suspects amid a full alert status for the entire police force in the province.

Random checkpoints have been set up across the province as the police and the military believe the rebels might stage retaliatory attacks against them and other possible targets.

DSWD INTERVENTION SOUGHT

Meanwhile, at least four children have been placed under the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Canlaon, after the encounter.

Marquez said he will ensure that the children, aged 13, 12, 5 and 3, are given proper care and treatment for possible trauma as they were caught in the crossfire during the clash.

He added that three of the children are offsprings of suspected rebels Porfirio and Beverly Pableo, whose house in Barangay Panubigan was allegedly a safehouse or holding area for insurgents.

The fourth child, who was rescued by the police after the clash, is believed to be a relative of the Pableos, he said.

Marquez said the four children were in the Pableo household during a 20-minute firefight.  

Regardless of the circumstances and the status of their parents, the children who were caught in the crossfire must be attended to by concerned agencies, he added.*JFP

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