2 NPA members slain in Sarangani encounter

TWO members of the New People’s Army (NPA) were killed during an encounter with government security forces in Barangay Pag-asa, Alabel of Sarangani province on Friday.

Col. Robert Ancan, commander of the Philippine Army’s 102nd In fantry Brigade, said the encounter with about 15 NPA members hapthat lasted for about an hour. pened at about 6:30 a.m. after a The identities of the slain rebels, report from concerned citizens on the presence of armed men by the military. “extorting and intimidating” Ancan claimed that the blood residents in the area. stains in the encounter site and

Ancan said soldiers from the 73rd withdrawal route of the commuInfantry Battalion conducted a secu- nist fighters indicate that there were also wounded NPA members.

No casualty was reported on the government side.

Capt. Mc Gary Dida, civil-military operations officer of the Army’s 1002nd Infantry Brigade, said seized from the encounter site were two - subversive documents.

Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Noel Clement, commander of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, said despite the encounter, they members were “another victims of the wrong propaganda.”

“Thus we are calling on the members of the NPAs to lay down their arms, surrender and avail of the Comprehensive Local Integration Program [of the government],” Clement said in a statement.

The encounter happened days in an encounter in Nasugbu, Rodrigo Duterte terminated the peace negotiations with the communist movement.

a University of the Philippines student drew the attention of Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Maria Sison who called on independent human rights organizations and the Commission on Human Rights to investigate the incident.