Negros clash triggers class suspension

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — Classes in four remote villages in Calatrava, Negros Occidental were suspended yesterday due to an encounter between Army soldiers and remnants of the New People’s Army.

The NPA guerrillas were reportedly led by a wanted rebel, identified as Roger Fabillar, alias Arnel Tapang, who carries a bounty of P1 million for his arrest.

Reports said troopers of the Army’s 79th Infantry Battalion (IB) and members of the 1st Provincial Police Mobile Force Company exchanged fire with seven NPA guerrillas at around 6 a.m. in Sitio Agtotogas in Barangay Winaswasan.

Calatrava Mayor Marilyn Era suspended classes in the villages of Cambayobo, Macasilao, Pantao and Winaswasan to ensure safety and security of students and teachers.

Lt. Col. Arnel Calaoagan, chief of 79IB, said the firefight lasted 10 minutes.

No one was killed or wounded among the soldiers and the police, Calaoagan said.

He said the encounter was an offshoot of a focused military operation against the group of Fabillar, who are remnants of the NPA’s North Negros Front.

Fabillar is facing charges of multiple murder in connection with the killing of barangay officials and residents whom the NPA accused of being informants of the military.