2 soldiers, 7 NPA members killed in South Cotabato encounter

Two soldiers and seven suspected New People’s Army members were killed in an encounter in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato on Sunday afternoon.

The soldiers were identified as Private First Class Jovanie Tagactac and Private First Class Max Jay Lord Fernando. Three other soldiers who were wounded in the fight were not named.

Members of the 27th Infantry Battalion received a report from residents of the presence of armed men in Barangay Ned. When they went to the area, the armed men fired at them, prompting them to retaliate.

The firefight lasted an hour.

Recovered from the area were one carbine, two homemade shotguns, and one locally made 9mm machine pistol.

Colonel Roberto Ancan, 1002nd Brigade commander, said that NPAs allegedly terrorizing the country shall be dealt with according to the provisions of the law.

Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, 33rd Infantry Batallion commander, said when his men maneuvered to support the 27th IB troops, they were shot at by more or less 30 communist rebels hiding in bunkers.

In a press statement Tuesday, Cabunoc said he and his troops, accompanied by tribal elders, entered Datal Bonglangon to treat one of the wounded insurgents, Jeffrey Denian, 18.

Datu Dandee Denian, a tribal leader from Tulale village, confirmed that among those killed were Datu Victor Denian and two of the latter’s sons who reinforced the NPA members.

Cabunoc said he has arranged a tribal burial rite for the dead insurgents who all belong to the Dulangan Manobo.

Around 3 p.m., 10 NPA members of Platoon Arabo of Guerilla Front 73 surrendered to Cabunoc in the presence of Datu Tony Paan and Sto Nino village chairman Julieto Ynion.

The simple ‘Balik Tribo’ surrender rite was held in Sitio Bermuda, about a kilometer away from the seized NPA camp.

The Makabayan Peace Advocacy Team of 33rd IB is currently engaging tribal communities in Sto Niño village to win their support against the communist terrorists, said Cabunoc.

But human rights group Karapatan claimed the government troops massacred a group of T'boli and Dulangan Manobo in Sitio Datal Bong Langon.

It said indigenous peoples were occupying the area landgrabbed by the Consunjis, used by the corporation as a coffee plantation. It said the land area is part of the Dulangan Manobo and T'boli ancestral domain.

It said based on the initial reports from Karapatan- SOCKSARGENDS, aside from Victor Danyan, also killed were Victor Danyan Jr., Artemio Danyan, Pato Celardo, Samuel Angkoy, To Diamante, Bobot Lagase, and Mateng Bantal. Also reported wounded were Luben Laod and Teteng Laod.

Late last month, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Proclamation No. 360 terminating peace talks with the communist rebels due to alleged acts of violence and hostilities conducted by the latter.

AFP spokesperson Major General Restituto Padilla earlier said the number of the NPA-initiated violent activities in Western Mindanao increased by 333.33 percent and 35.29 percent in Eastern Mindanao from year-end 2016 to the first semester of 2017.

He added that 353 NPA-initiated violent activities were recorded in Eastern Mindanao and 16 in Western Mindanao from January 2017 to November 6. Most of the incidents involved harassment, arson, and kidnapping.

He further said the value of properties destroyed also increased by 2,000 percent to P2.178 billion in the period from January to November 2017. — BM/KBK, GMA News