Three suspected New People’s Army rebels were killed, and seven were injured in two encounters Wednesday night and yesterday with 62nd Infantry Battalion soldiers in the hinterlands of Toboso, Negros Occidental, the military said yesterday.

Two of the three rebels died yesterday in Sitio Tabon-Tabon, Brgy. Tabun-ac, Toboso, while the other one identified only as a certain Ka Gorio was killed in another encounter in adjacent Sitio Magkalapi Wednesday night, Lt. Col. Isabelo de los Reyes, 303rd Infantry Brigade Civil Military Operations officer, said last night.

De los Reyes said seven rebels were also injured in two encounters, three of whom he identified through their aliases as Ka Chen, an amazon who came from Samar, Ka Nazi and a certain Ka Anoy.

Five more hectares of forest in Brgy. Canlusong, E.B. Magalona, Negros Occidental, were destroyed by charcoal makers who had cut about 12,000 banned species of trees in various sizes, including saplings, Task Force Ilahas action officer Supt. Armando Tubongbanua yesterday said.

This brought to eight hectares of the forest area destroyed in the hinterlands of EB Magalona, with more than 18,000 board feet of lauan and other banned species of trees being cut in Sitio Manyake of Brgy. Canlusong by a group of organized armed poachers, police and TFI records showed.

Tubongbanua said the five hectares destroyed by charcoal makers who are barangay residents and even tanod members, were located in Sitio Marigaok Uno and Gamay, also in Brgy, Canlusong, E.B. Magalona, which they had converted into farms.

Environmentalists and members of the clergy yesterday called on President Benigno Aquino Jr. and other top government officials to permanently shut down the operations of the Northern Negros Geothermal Power Plant in Mailum, Bago City, and return the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park to the people.

Energy Development Corp. officials on Wednesday announced that the P8 billion NNGPP would stop operations in July for further geothermal resource study.

The NNGPP that was originally envisioned to produce 49 megawatts currently only produces 8 to 9 megawatts of geothermal power, Dwight Maxino, vice president for steam field operations of EDC’s Northern Negros geothermal project, said.