INJURED REBEL. Troops under the Army's 97th Infantry Battalion rescue a female combatant of the communist New People's Army who was wounded during a firefight in Barangay Midatag, Leon Postigo, Zamboanga del Norte, on Wednesday (Aug. 5, 2020). Government troops rushed her to the hospital. (Photo courtesy of the 97IB)
ZAMBOANGA CITY – Government troops rescued a wounded fighter of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) in a remote area of Zamboanga del Norte, a military official said Thursday.
Lt. Col. Manaros Boransing, commander of the Army's 7th Infantry Battalion, said the female fighter was rescued after a 10-minute firefight in Sitio Kasong, Barangay Midatag, Leon Postigo town on Wednesday.
Boransing identified the rebel only as Ka Jekjek, a medic and political instructor of the NPA's Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee, who sustained a bullet wound on the buttocks.
He said the firefight ensued when the troops responded to the report of residents of Sitio Kasong, Barangay Midatag that a group of gunmen stole a pig and foodstuff.
There was no casualty on the government’s side during the skirmish.
“The troops immediately rescued Jekjek after the clash, provided medical first aid, and immediately brought her to the nearest hospital,” Boransing said.
“Jekjek was recruited when she was 14 years old, brainwashed by the leaders and legal fronts of the Communist Terrorist Groups (CTGs), used, and abused during her time with the group, and eventually abandoned when she was wounded. That is how they (NPA) treat their members.”
Brig. Gen. Leonel Nicolas, commander of the Army's 102nd Infantry Brigade, called on the remaining communist guerillas in the province to surrender and avail of the government's Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program.
“The Army will not stop until ultimate peace is attained in the province of Zamboanga del Norte and the whole Zamboanga Peninsula. Terrorism and armed rebellion (have) no place in our community and our country,” Nicolas said. (PNA)
