2 NPAs, soldier killed in Camarines clash

CAMP GUILLERMO NAKAR, Lucena, Quezon — A soldier and two communist guerrillas were killed in an encounter in Camarines Sur Saturday morning, a day after President Arroyo called for an all-out war against the insurgents.

Maj. Jose Broso, public information officer of the Armed Forces Southern Luzon Command, said men of the 9th Scout Ranger Company clashed with a five-member NPA patrol at dawn in a village near Buhi town, leaving two guerrillas and Pfc. Joel Arquerro dead.

The soldiers recovered two M-16 Armalite rifles, four grenades, two bandoliers, nine M-16 magazines, and a two-way radio after the three other rebels withdrew.

Last Friday, the President pledged to boost military and police budgets by 20 percent in a bid to help defeat what has become one of the world’s longest-running communist insurgencies.

Mrs. Arroyo believes the Communist Party of the Philippines and its 7,400-member armed wing could be defeated in two years.

The extra P1 billion would finance the acquisition of reconditioned military helicopters and other equipment from the United States, the President said.

The government shelved peace talks with the Maoist rebels two years ago after the CPP-NPA, blacklisted by the United States as a "foreign terrorist organization," refused a government call for a nationwide ceasefire. — Arnell Ozaeta, AFP