Government Troops Valiantly Fought NPA Terrorists

CAMP ELIAS ANGELES, Pili, Camarines Sur – Two separate armed skirmishes transpired between 9ID troops and NPA terrorists on November 17, 2009.

Major Harold M. Cabunoc, spokesman of the 9th Infantry Division, said that government forces gallantly repulsed the harassment by communist rebels on a CAFGU Detachment in Barangay Dalupaon, Pasacao, Camarines Sur at around 7:15am on said day. The detachment was fired upon by more or less 10 local terrorists positioned at about 300 meters northwest of said encampment. The attack however was successfully thwarted by sniper-trained Army troopers and CAFGU personnel after firing accurate shots from their defensive positions to the rebels. The exchange of fires lasted for about 5 minutes after which the terrorists withdrew towards the direction of Barangay Tilnac and Barangay San Antonio, all of the same municipality. No casualty was reported on the government side.

In another unrelated incident, at around 1:30pm, an encounter was reported between operating troops of Bravo Company, 83rd Infantry Battalion led by 2LT Rodel Balatbat and the NPA rebels in Barangay Alinawan, Panganiban, Catanduanes. The firefight lasted for about 15 minutes and resulted to the slightly wounding of Corporal Dela Torre while undetermined number of casualty on the enemy side were reported later. Two (2) backpacks containing subversive documents of tactical value were also recovered from the scene of combat.

Likewise, Major Cabunoc emphasized that Army troops in Bicol Region have been trained to respond appropriately during enemy attacks. “The surrenderors in Catanduanes are now working closely with 83IB to hunt down the remnants of the rebel group in the island province of Catanduanes. These harassments are desperate attempts by the CPP-NPA-NDF rebels to counter the successive combat accomplishments attained by the troops of 9th Infantry Division.”, he added.