The soldiers from the Army’s 41st Infantry Battalion under Lt. Col. Raul Bautista encountered the rebels at Sitio Soriyan, Barangay Calao in Bucay town, Abra, at around 6:30 p.m., sources from the 5th ID headquarters here, which has jurisdiction over the unit, said.
The rebels, identified as Jonathan Molina, Jerry Baesa abd Boboy Baro, who were later arrested in sitio Riyang shortly after the incident, were believed to be members of the South Central of the Abra Provincial Party Committee.
Confiscated from them were a M16 rifle, a rifle grenade, a homemade shotgun, a pair of binoculars, a short magazine with 10 rounds of M16 ammunition, two rounds of a 12-gauge shotgun, and four whistle bombs.
The three were reportedly conducting house-to-house extortion and collecting information on local candidates for the May 14 polls.
Charges are now being readied against the three for rebellion and for illegal possession of firearms, the Army said.
The arrest was the latest incident in a series of encounters between the Army and NPA rebels in Northern Luzon in recent weeks.
The rebels were reportedly beefing up their arsenal as well as flexing their political muscles to remind everyone that they are still a potent force to reckon with, especially during the election season where they were allegedly giving out safe conduct passes to candidates who want to campaign in areas which the rebels claim to be under their influence.
The rebels have not made any confirmation yet concerning the arrests.
The Army’s 5th ID, under Maj. Gen. Rodrigo Maclang, with its three infantry brigades covering Cagayan Valley, Cordillera and Ilocos regions, has been conducting intensive routine patrols in the areas due to reported sightings of private armed groups, including communist rebels.
The said intensive patrols also led to last week’s discovery of a four-hectare marijuana plantation along the boundary of Ilocos Sur and Benguet province worth some P15 million.
– With Ric Sapnu, Artemio Dumlao