Army,NPAs exchange fire in Lupao

LUPAO, Nueva Ecija - An undetermined number of suspected New Peoples Army guerillas were wounded while two Armalite rifles with bunch of subversive documents were recovered in a “fierce encounter” between the government troopers and and the rebels in a narrow river in the far-flung village here Monday night, the military reported on Tuesday.

Lt. Col. Gregory Cayetano, commander of the Army’s 71st Infantry Battalion, said the rebels, reportedly led one Antonio Layco alias Ka Domeng of Sandatahang Yunit sa Platun, Pangasinan – Front Nueva Ecija Provincial Command, initially positioned to engage the soldiers in firefight but after a considerable period of exchange of fire scampered to different directions carrying with them “their wounded comrades.”

The rebels, Cayetano, run through the “cover of darkness and thick vegetation,” in Sitio Pinggan, Barangay Parista, Lupao. The place, the military said, is a remote village situated at the foothills of Caraballo Mountain range. The encountered happened at about 9:15 p.m., he said.

Cayetano said that the soldiers, led by 2Lt. Roselio Cabarliza conducted a tactical offensive after receiving reports from some residents that the NPAs were allegedly “terrorizing” the residents in an attempt “to regain mass base in the area.”

Cabarliza, in his report to the 7th Infantry Division based in Fort Ramon Magsaysay, Palayan City, noted the alleged inferiority this time of the rebels owing to low quality manpower and evident lack of training.

“The communist insurgents were trying to regain influence over their lost mass base in Lupao,” which he said, “is the life blood of the rebels as it provides them crucial supports such as food, finance and information.”

Cayetano noted that a number of former NPA supporters have joined the military-inspired Barangay Defense System, a project supported by various private institutions which provided training and supports for livelihood. -Armand M. Galang