11IB TROOPS. Maj. Gen. Dinoh Dolina (center), commander of the 3rd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, speaks to 11th Infantry Battalion (11IB) troopers during their recent return to Negros Oriental. The soldiers clashed with suspected communist rebels on Tuesday (July 2, 2019), that sent villagers fleeing to safer grounds. (File photo by Judy Flores Partlow)
DUMAGUETE CITY – Hundreds of residents from the hinterlands of Bindoy and Mabinay in Negros Oriental evacuated to safer grounds following the latest encounter between government troops from the Philippine Army's 11th Infantry Battalion (11IB) and suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) in Barangay Nalundan, Bindoy town on Tuesday.
No casualty was reported on both sides even as government troops continued to scour the areas in the adjacent towns of Mabinay and Bindoy following the fighting that erupted at around 4:45 p.m. in Sitio Samac Gamay of Barangay Nalundan.
Mabinay Vice Mayor Ernesto Uy said some 300 evacuees are now either at the town proper or in barangay halls.
The 11th IB troops, led by 1Lt. Crisanto Evan G. Canua, were conducting security patrols in the area when they came across around 25 armed men believed to be NPA members. A firefight ensued, lasting for about one hour and 10 minutes.
The troops acted on tips coming from civilians on the presence of armed men in the area, said Lt. Col. Ramir Redosendo, 11th IB Battalion commander.
“Kahit bagong balik palang ang 11IB sa lugar pero nasusundan na natin ang mga kalaban. (Although the 11th IB has just recently returned to Negros Oriental, we have already pursued the enemies,” Redosendo said in a statement.
“Patunay lamang na dahil sa tulong ng mga aktibo nating stakeholders kasama ang buong mamamayan ng Negros Oriental na hindi nagsasawang magbigay ng impormasyon ay ating mawawakasan ang mga karahasan na dulot ng teroristang grupo (this is proof that stakeholders and the people are actively cooperating to provide information to end the abuses and injustices of this terrorist group), he said.
Last June 23, a clash was also reported between 11th IB troops and alleged NPA members in Barangay Bantolinao in the adjacent town of Manjuyod.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Army confirmed that a woman died around the time of the clash in Mabinay but it was not related to the encounter, said Capt. Cenon Pancito, chief of the Public Affairs Office of the 3rd Infantry Division.
The woman was identified as Myrna Callao, 50, a resident of Purok Makaangayon in Sitio Tanday, Barangay Abis in Mabinay. She allegedly died of a heart attack.
Evacuees at the Barangay Abis gymnasium said the woman had leukemia and was already bedridden.
Pancito said it is not true that Callao died at the evacuation center.
The CPP-NPA, which has marked 50 years of armed struggle, is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines. (PNA)
