- GILBERT P. BAYORAN
A Negrense soldier died in a gunbattle with New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Iloilo while the three rebels who died in separate encounters in Negros Island have already been identified.
Private First Class Rodelo Alfanza, of Sagay City, Negros Occidental, died during an encounter with about 15 NPA rebels in Barangay Igpaho, Tubungan, Iloilo on Jan. 17.
Alfanza, a member of the Philippine Army’s 61st Infantry Battalion, succumbed to a gunshot injury in the neck.
He was declared dead on arrival at a hospital in Iloilo, where he and his injured comrade, were treated, according to a statement issued by the 3rd Infantry Division (ID).
Meanwhile, the three NPA rebels, who are remnants of the Central Negros 1 Front and South East Front, have already been identified by the 3ID.
Killed in a clash with troops of 62nd Infantry Battalion (IB) on Jan. 17 in Barangay Sag- ang, La Castellana were Dionesio Baloy, 67, of Barangay Linantuyan, and Bernard Torres Sr., 56, of Barangay Buenavista, all in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental.
In a statement, the NPA Apolinario Gatmaitan Command disowned Torres and Baloy as their members, saying there was no encounter in La Castellana.
A report of the 62IB said the clash yielded an AR 15 assault rifle, a caliber .45 pistol, a homemade 12-gauge shotgun, among others.
The cadavers of Baloy and Borres were turned over to their respective families, as facilitated by the 62IB, La Castellana municipal government and the Guihulngan City Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.
The slain rebel in Santa Catalina, Negros Oriental on Jan. 19 was identified as Edmar Pat Solano, a remnant of the dismantled South East Front.
Soldiers of the 11th Infantry Battalion recovered an M16 assault rifle, three magazines containing ammunition of AK 47 assault rifle and an M203 grenade launcher ammunition. | GB
