4 killed in Army, NPA clash in Abra

CAMP MELCHOR DELA CRUZ, Upi, Gamu, Isabela – At least four were killed in a fierce gunbattle between government troops and communist rebels in a remote Abra village over the weekend, the second incident to take place in the area in a week, the Army said yesterday.

In a report to Maj. Gen. Melchor Dilodilo, commanding general of the Army’s 5th Infantry Division based here, it indicated that last Saturday’s encounter came after the discovery of a communist camp in mountain Tubtuba village, Tubo, Abra. 

Reports said that at least two NPA rebels were killed and still undetermined numbers of their comrades were wounded while two death casualties were incurred from the government side during the more than three-hour heavy gunbattle.

The latest encounter was described to be the fiercest this year as the military even reinforced its field troops with ground-to-air artilleries, prompting the more than 35 heavily-armed rebels to back off and scamper in groups towards different escape routes.

In his report, Lt. Col. Roy De Vesa, chief of the Army brigade in the area, said that his men, led by 1Lt. Michael Victoria and 2Lt. Lito Punio of the 52nd Reconnaissance Company, were in combat operations when they came across an NPA camp in the area, and subsequently encountered the fully-armed rebels holding their ground at the camp’s outskirts.

The encounter, which broke out just before noon on Saturday, also led to the Army’s recovery of a backpack with a hand grenade inside and a two-way radio.

The Army death casualties were identified as Jeorge Pantuloc and Eunel Baluloan, both privates first class of the Army’s 5th ID. 

Despite the two deaths, Dilodilo described the latest gunfight as another triumph for the government’s continued effort to weed out communist insurgents in Northern  Luzon.

“The success of the operations in the area was the result of the reliable information given by the civilians, who are already tired of the extortion activities and other atrocities committed by the communist terrorists,” said Dilodilo, whose 5th ID command covers the three Northern Luzon regions – Ilocos, Cagayan Valley and the Cordillera.

The Army said that the discovery of the camp, the second to be overrun this year, further weakened the communist base in the area, which is still considered one of the few remaining hotbeds of insurgency in Northwest Luzon.