‘Foreigners seen with NPAs in Isabela clash are Dutch students’

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – The three foreigners reportedly seen with communist rebels during a clash with government troops in a remote Isabela village last Saturday are Dutch students, a source said yesterday.   

The Dutch women were said to be conducting a study on the crocodile conservation efforts of the Isabela-based Mabuwaya Foundation.

A source said one of the foreigners was among the 12 fatalities in the five-hour encounter between the rebels and members of the Reconnaissance Company of the Army’s 502nd Infantry Brigade (IB) in Echague’s Mabbayad village.

Mabuwaya, which is affiliated with the World Wildlife Fund, is a non-government group working for the conservation of the Philippine crocodiles. 

The foundation has a crocodile breeding center in San Mariano town, and a crocodile sanctuary in the wilds of the San Mariano-Divilacan area.  

Marites Gatan-Balabas, deputy director of the Mabuwaya Foundation, denied having foreigners in their group. “ Aside from that, our students are in  Maconacon and Divilacan (Isabela coastal towns),” she said.  

“We receive reports about the presence of  foreigners tagging along with the rebels during the encounter. But we could not ascertain if they were indeed with the lawless group or just happened to be there,” Col. Loreto Magundayao, spokesman for  the Gamu, Isabela-based Army’s 5th Infantry Division, which has jurisdiction over the 502nd IB, said.

“Maybe they were there not necessarily with the lawless group. Maybe they just happened to be there when the encounter occurred,” said Magundayao.

Last Saturday’s encounter left seven soldiers and five communist guerillas dead. Seven soldiers and 10 rebels were also wounded. – Raymund Catindig, Charlie Lagasca