By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

At least one soldier was killed, while three others were wounded, after an encounter early Sunday morning with suspected New People’s Army (NPA) insurgents at Sitio Kambugtong, located in Barangay Bantolinao, Manjuyod, Negros Oriental.
The Philippine Army has yet to identify the four individuals as they are still in the process of informing their next of kin.
Philippine Army 302nd Infantry Brigade (302IB) commander, Brigadier General Ignacio Madriaga, said they were conducting a medical and dental mission in the area when they were informed by local residents of an NPA presence.
“The residents told us that the rebels were threatening them not to participate in the medical and dental mission,” the military official said.
Madriaga said the NPA threatened to use landmines against the civilians and, in response, they launched a combat operation against the rebels.
Military troopers later encountered around 20 NPA rebels and a firefight ensued.
Madriaga said the group was not the same rebel unit that tried to attack a detachment in Sta. Catalina last June 21, where two rebels were killed./DGB, WDJ