A leader of the New People’s Army and 18 other NPA rebels were killed, the largest number since the 1990’s, in a clash with the Army’s 79th Infantry Battalion in Toboso town in Negros Occidental on Sunday.
Brig. Gen. Ted Dumosmog, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, confirmed yesterday that the ‘elusive and notorious’ rebel leader Roger Fabillar, who goes by the aliases Arnel Tapang, Jhong, Nono and Domeng, was among those killed.
Dumosmog said Fabillar’s group is linked to the summary execution of at least 36 people tagged as military informants.
There was a P2-million bounty for Fabillar’s arrest.
Toboso Mayor Richard Jaojoco said the clash prompted the evacuation of 168 families from Barangays Salamanca and San Jose for their safety.
The evacuees are housed at Salamanca, Toril and Labi-Labi elementary schools, he added.
In neighboring Escalante City, Mayor Melecio Yap reported that 200 people residing near the boundary with Toboso were also evacuated from their homes.
Dumosmog said the gunfight started after members of the 79th Infantry Battalion spotted an encampment near a fishpond at Sitio Plaringding in Barangay Salamanca in Toboso.
As soldiers moved in, the rebels scampered away, leading to a series of gunfights with the Army’s blocking forces, Dumosmog said.
A soldier was wounded and is being treated at a medical facility in Bacolod City.
After the gunfight, police retrieved 19 bodies for identification, 19 high-powered firearms and an unspecified number of explosives.
Maj. Gen. Michael Samson, 3rd Infantry Division commander, who supervises Army units in Western Visayas, Central Visayas and Negros Island regions, lauded the successful operation, noting that security forces had been tracking down Favillar and his group for months.