EVACUEES. Residents of the hinterland village of Camudlas in Bindoy, Negros Oriental who fled their homes are currently staying at a central elementary school in the town proper. They left their village late Thursday (April 30, 2020) following a clash between Army troops and alleged New People's Army members. The clash resulted in the death of three rebels and injuries to one soldier and two civilians. (Contributed photo)
DUMAGUETE CITY – Hundreds of individuals fled their homes, some coming down from the mountains, as government troops continued to clash with suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in the hinterlands of Bindoy, Negros Oriental on Friday.
The gunbattle started late Thursday afternoon between soldiers of the Army's 94th Infantry Battalion (94IB) and armed men believed to be communist insurgents in Sitio Namunduan, Barangay Camudlas.
Three alleged rebels were killed, while one soldier and two civilians were wounded earlier today (Friday) in the firefight that lasted for about 30 minutes.
Negros Oriental provincial police director Col. Julian Entoma, who visited Bindoy, said in an interview that as of the latest count, there were 260 individuals, including children now staying at the central elementary school in the town proper.
Fr. Ireneo Ruiz, the town's parish priest who also visited the hinterland barangays and evacuation center, said there are many more villagers expected to come down from the mountains.
He said residents of Barangay Salong, which is adjacent to Camudlas, are also starting to leave their homes as government troops continue to pursue the rebels.
Ruiz also said the local government unit of Bindoy, through the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office, is now giving provisions to the evacuees.
He said some people up in the mountains could not leave because the Army had locked down the area, with sporadic gunfights being heard by residents there around 10 a.m.
An updated report from the police said that at around 4 p.m. Thursday, soldiers of the 94IB received information on the presence of armed men at a house in Sitio Namunduan.
While validating the intelligence report at the house believed to be owned by a certain Diosdada Tanseco Baldado, a firefight ensued between the soldiers and more or less 20 rebels, Entoma said.
Police investigators and Scene of the Crime Operation personnel retrieved the bodies of two of the three alleged NPA members who were killed, he said.
One of them, a female, was identified as Diosdada Baldado, while the other was still unidentified as of this writing, he added.
A third “NPA” member is believed to have been killed and included in the count by the Army, although his body could not be retrieved as it fell into a steep ravine, Entoma said, as blood stains and human flesh were found in a grassy portion leading to the ravine.
One of the two civilians injured was a minor who sustained slight injuries while the other was an adult male, both of whom were in the vicinity of the encounter, he said.
Entoma said based on empty shells recovered from the scene, the alleged rebels were armed with heavy firearms such as AK-47 and M-14 rifles.
Police units in the nearby and adjacent towns of Mabinay, Manjuyod, and Ayungon are now alerted to act as blocking forces to prevent the possible escape of the armed men, he said. (PNA)
