- GILBERT BAYORAN
An Army soldier was injured in a gun battle with suspected New People’s Army rebels April 6 in Toboso, Negros Occidental.
Captain Mervin Rosal, 303rd Infantry Brigade Civil Military Operations officer, said that troopers of the 79th Infantry Battalion responded to reports of extortion and recovery activities of alleged remnants of the dismantled Northern Negros Front in Sitio Serjae, Brgy. San Isidro, Toboso, when a gun battle ensued between the two groups for several minutes.
Rosal said that the fleeing armed men left behind two homemade 12 gauge shotguns with magazines containing ammunition, six packs of medicine kits, six hammocks, two pairs of rain boots, a cellphone battery, assorted personal belongings, and subversive documents.
The injured Army soldier, who was conferred with a Wounded Personnel Medal by newly-promoted 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, Brig. Gen. Orlando Edralin, at a private hospital in Bacolod City is now in stable condition, Rosal said.
Lt. Col. JJ Javines, 79th Infantry Battalion commander, reported that several rebels were also injured in the gun battle, based on testimonies of residents in the area./GB
