NPA 'extortionist' killed by soldiers in Sultan Kudarat encounter
COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Soldiers shot dead a member of the New People’s Army in an encounter in Barangay Banali in the hinterland Senator Ninoy Aquino town in Sultan Kudarat on Thursday, April 18.
Barangay leaders and municipal officials separately told reporters on Saturday, April 19, that the slain guerilla belonged to a group collecting money and rice from villagers at gunpoint each week.
Brig. Gen. Michael Santos, commander of the Army’s 603rd Infantry Brigade, said the encounter on Thursday in Purok Patyog in Barangay Banali erupted when the group attacked a team from the 7th Infantry Battalion dispatched to check reports about its presence in the area.
Local officials said it was former NPAs who had surrendered the 603rd Infantry Brigade in recent months who reported to the commander of the 7th IB, Lt. Col. Tristan Rey Vallescas, their sightings of the armed group in Sitio Patyog.
The rebels fled towards an upland area in Barangay Banali after their companion, initially identified only as Ruben, was felled with rifle shots by soldiers approaching their location from two directions.
Vallescas said soldiers found an M16 assault rifle beside the guerilla who was killed in the encounter.
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