• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The New People’s Army (NPA) Apolinario Gatmaitan Command has dismissed the declaration of the Philippine Army that it has dismantled all existing guerilla fronts in Negros Island.
“It is farther from the truth,” rebel spokesman Ka Maoce Legislador said in a statement.
He also called “fake” the armed encounters in Calatrava and La Castellana in Negros Occidental on Jan. 15 and 17.
Legislador claimed that Bernard Torres and Boy Baloy, who were killed in Barangay Sag-ang, La Castellana, were not NPA members.
Torres was a “habal-habal” driver and a member of PISTON transport group while Baloy was a farmer, both from Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, he added.
The encounter in La Castellana, as reported by the 62nd Infantry Battalion, also led to the recovery of three assorted firearms with ammunition, two back packs containing personal belongings, assorted medical items and subversive documents. | GB
