Bohol encounter: Soldier, NPA rebel killed
CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines — A soldier and a communist rebel were killed during an encounter between Army troops and the New People’s Army rebels in Bilar town, Bohol Province last Saturday, February 29, 2020.
Captain Eduardo Precioso, AFP Central Command spokesperson, said a platoon from the 47th Infantry Battalion encountered an NPA band of 15 rebels at 9 a.m. Saturday in the boundary of Barangays Cansumbol and Cambigse in Bilar town.
“The clash lasted for 30 minutes and resulted to one trooper killed in action and one rebel whose body was recovered,” Precioso said.
A day earlier on February 28, 2020, in Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental, government troops clashed with suspected NPA rebels. Two suspected rebels were killed in that armed encounter in Barangay Binobohan.
Read more: Suspected NPA members, troops clash; 2 rebels killed
Deaths, handguns
Meanwhile in the Bohol encounter, Precioso did not name the soldier pending the notification of his family.
He said the Bilar town officials as of press time were still investigating the identity of the dead rebel.
Precioso said the troops recovered two caliber .38 and one caliber .357 revolvers as well as documents from the encounter site.
He said the AFP Central Command had sent their deepest condolences to the family of the trooper who was killed in the encounter.
“The suspects were only armed with handguns and the soldier tried to check them when they suddenly started firing,” Precioso said explaining how the soldier died.
Efforts to recover Bohol
Precioso said last Saturday’s encounter ended the 10-year period that Bohol island became insurgent-free.
“The NPA have been exerting their efforts to recover Bohol after they lost the island a decade ago,” he said.
Precioso said the communist rebels were trying to organize villagers in the agriculture-rich Bilar town.
He said local officials in Bilar had remained steadfast in rejecting the efforts of the rebels.
Precioso said proof of that was officials from Barangay Cansumbol were the ones who informed the soldiers of the presence of the rebels last Saturday./dbs
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