Soldier wounded in Compostela Valley clash

DAVAO CITY – An Army trooper was wounded when a band of suspected New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas ambushed a group of soldiers in New Bataan, Compostela Valley province over the weekend.

Members of the Army’s 25th Infantry Battalion (IB) were patrolling in Barangay Camanlangan when at least 25 rebels waylaid them.

The soldiers managed to retaliate, triggering a firefight that lasted 20 minutes.

Villagers told authorities that they saw the fleeing rebels taking their wounded comrades with them.

Meanwhile, an NPA guerrilla surrendered to the 58th IB in Gingoog City over the weekend. 

The 30-year-old rebel, identified  as alias Banoy, said he was a member of a local NPA unit led by an alias Kiram and operating in Gingoog and Misamis Oriental since 2014.

Jose Ariel Niembra, chief of the 58th IB, commended local officials and relatives of Banoy who helped convince him to leave the revolutionary movement.

2 rebels captured in Sorsogon

Two suspected NPA guerrillas were captured  by Army troopers following a security operation in Gubat, Sorsogon on Saturday afternoon.

Troopers belonging to the Army’s 31st Infantry Division were responding to reports about the presence of armed men in Barangay Union when the guerrillas shot them at past 4 p.m., according to Maj. Angelo Guzman, spokesman for  the Armed Forces Southern Luzon Command.

Guzman said the troopers managed to retaliate, forcing the rebels to flee.

The troopers pursued the rebels and captured two of them.

The military identified the two rebels as Joseph Esperanzate and Noli Rangel, who yielded two improvised explosive devices and subversive documents. – With Alexis Romero, Francis Elevado