The three Army soldiers wounded in the fighting have not yet been identified.
Col. Preme Monta, Armed Forces Northern Command spokesman, said Army troops were checking reports of the presence of heavily armed men in Barangay West Sta. Ines in that town at about 5 a.m. when they encountered NPA rebels belonging to the Kilusang Larangan ng Gerilya ng Tarlac.
The NPA guerrillas were reportedly recruiting local folk and conducting teach-in sessions when the soldiers arrived at the scene, he added.
Monta said the bodies of the 18 slain rebels were taken to the barangay hall in West Sta. Ines for identification.
Police Officer Ramon Obaldo of the Sta. Ignacia police said the gunbattle was still raging by early afternoon between Army troops, police reinforcements and about 60 guerrillas.
There were no reports of government casualties, he added.
About half of the town’s 22 policemen were deployed to support Army troops, and the rest stayed to secure the town of nearly 40,000 mostly rice farmers, Obaldo said.
It was not immediately clear what triggered the clash.
Sta. Ignacia Mayor Reynaldo Modomo said authorities were checking a report that the rebels attacked a cell phone transmission facility in one barangay.
Militant leaders feared for the safety of civilians yesterday amid reports that the military was bombing three barangays in Sta. Ignacia following the killing of the 18 NPA rebels.
Roman Polintan, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) chairman in Central Luzon, cited reports he received late yesterday that more troops had arrived in Sta. Ignacia and had begun bombing areas in Barangays Labne, David and Lawak Damulag at Sta. Ignacia’s boundary with San Jose town.
Nolcom officials said NPAs who fled the fighting in West Sta. Ines were believed to have sought refuge in these barangays.
Troops recovered combat packs and subversive documents from the scene.
Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr., Army 7th Infantry Division commander, ordered sustained operations against the fleeing rebels who were reportedly dragging their wounded comrades along with them.
Community-based operations being undertaken by soldiers have gained the trust and confidence of the local folk, he added.
Residents who used to be afraid of NPA reprisals are now taking up arms against alleged abusive practices of the rebels, Palparan said.
Philippine National Police chief Director General Arturo Lomibao, meanwhile, said yesterday will ask the Department of National Defense and Armed Forces to allow the police to take the lead role in the anti-insurgency campaign.
"Pursuant to the instruction of the DILG secretary, we want to sit down with our counterpart in the DND and AFP for a stronger initiative in counter-insurgency or internal security operation," he said.
Lomibao, who had presided over a command conference of regional police directors and heads of national support units, said the PNP will propose a shift in its strategy of fighting the rebels.
"We would propose that the PNP will assume territorial role and the AFP maneuver forces insofar as the insurgency problem is concerned," he said.
"The PNP is in every nook and corner of the archipelago. We will be giving responsibility to our field commanders and the regional directors."
Lomibao said there are policemen who have the wrong notion that insurgency, particularly that of the NPA, is not their concern.
"Some of the police ignore reports on the presence of rebels in their areas, allowing the enemy to attack," he said.
Lomibao said he would impose a "one-strike policy" in which regional and provincial directors will be immediately relieved if their men fail to launch counterattacks against rebels. — Ding Cervantes, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Ric Sapnu, James Mananghaya, AP