TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, Philippines — A soldier and three suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA) were killed in separate firefights in Bilar town, Bohol, and Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental.
First Lt. Elma Grace Remonde, civil-military officer of the Army’s 47th Infantry Battalion based in Bohol, said two persons were killed in the encounter — a soldier whom she did not identify pending notification to his family and an armed man believed to be a communist rebel.
Remonde said government troopers chanced upon an undetermined number of armed men at Barangay Cambigsi in Bilar town, resulting in an encounter at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
She added that the police and the military had already deployed forces in the area for hot pursuit operations.
Bohol has been considered insurgency-free for over a decade. However, in 2018 sightings of armed men in some towns were reported by residents.
In Negros Oriental, two alleged members of the NPA were killed in an encounter with government troopers in Barangay Binobohan, Guihulngan City at 6 p.m. last Friday.
The fatalities were identified as Edgar Bonifacio and Randy Canumay.
Lt. Col. Egberto Dacoscos, commanding officer of the 62 Infantry Battalion, said the slain rebels were responsible for the killing of innocent civilians in Guihulngan and Canlaon City.