Soldier killed, officer wounded in Kalinga clash

An Army enlisted personnel was killed while a junior officer was wounded following a clash with suspected New People's Army (NPA) rebels in the northern Philippine province of Kalinga early Thursday morning, a regional military spokesman said. 1Lt. Dennis Guillermo of the Philippine Army's 5th Infantry Division, said the incident happened about 6 a.m. at Sitio Butol, Apatan village in Pinukpok town when patrolling elements of the 21st and 77th Infantry Battalion chanced upon 50 insurgents. The firefight lasted for about an hour, Guillermo said. The slain soldier was identified as Corporal Glenn Cadelina from the 77th IB, while wounded was 2Lt. Allan Sadio, of the 21st IB. The number of enemy casualties was undetermined although there were blood stains found along the rebels' withdrawal route, Guillermo said. The 6,200-strong NPA has been waging a guerilla warfare in the countryside in the last 38 years, although the government targets to neutralize it by 2010 when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ends her term. Peace talks with the movement bogged down in August 2004 following the reclassification of the CPP-NPA-NDF by the United States and the European Union as terrorist organizations. The communist movement then blamed Manila for bot exerting efforts in convincing the US and its Western allies in removing the CPP-NPA-NDF from the list. - GMANews.TV