2 foreigners seen with NPA guerrillas in Isabela clash

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines  – Two foreigners were reportedly seen with New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in last Saturday’s clash with government troops in a remote Isabela village that left seven soldiers and five guerrillas dead.

Sources said civilians saw two Caucasians tagging along with some 30 rebels during the five-hour running gunbattle with elements of the Army’s 502nd Infantry Brigade (IB) in Mabbayad village in Echague town.

The military, according to reports, is now investigating this, especially since one of the foreigners was said to be among the fatalities in the clash, which erupted at around 4:30 a.m. Saturday at the boundary of Echague and San Mariano towns.

The seven soldiers slain in the encounter were identified as 2Lt. Jimnah Torrepalma, Sgt. Eduardo Arguero, Cpl. Jondy Lar Ebersole, and Pfcs. Joemar Miguel, Jerold Mina, Albert Lagua, and Raul Alunday.

Col. Loreto Magundayao, chief of the 5th Infantry Division’s civil-military operations battalion, said six of the soldiers were killed on the spot while Alunday died while being treated at a military hospital.

“Their remains are now at the 5th ID headquarters for the appropriate military wake and honors before they will be transported to their hometowns,” Magundayao said.

Seven other soldiers, among them Pfc. Robert Samut, are still undergoing treatment for gunshot wounds. All of them belong to the 502nd Infantry Brigade’s Reconnaissance Company based in Isabela’s Jones town, which is under the jurisdiction of the 5th ID.

According to reports, at least five NPA rebels were killed and at least eight others were wounded in the encounter. The Army said the figures were based on field reports, as no bodies of the slain guerrillas were recovered.

“(The encounter took place) while (our troops were) conducting security operations to ensure the safe (implementation) of all impending national government projects in the area. (They) were fired upon by the lawless group,” Magundayao said.

Government forces earlier had engaged in pre-dawn skirmishes with the insurgents along the foothills of the Sierra Madre ranges.

The rebels, believed to belong to the NPA’s Benito Tesorio Command based here, alleged that they seized three machine guns, four M-16 Armalite rifles, and an M-16 baby Armalite from the government side.

“We lost the battle but never the war. We sympathize with the bereaved families of our fallen soldiers who were part of the countless victims of killings perpetrated by the armed lawless group in the area,” the 5th ID said in a statement.

The encounter was the worst setback for the Army in Northern Luzon since last April’s ambush-slay by NPA guerrillas of 11 members of the 85th Infantry Battalion in Tinoc, Ifugao. A female civilian was also slain in the attack.