By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Two suspected New People’s Army (NPA) insurgents were captured yesterday morning following an encounter with elements of the Philippine Army 79th Infantry Battalion at Sitio Maitom in Escalante City’s Barangay Old Poblacion.
Philippine Army 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, Brigadier General Benedict Arevalo, identified the two captured rebels as Jomar ‘Mari’ Agustin, a resident of Toboso; and Revely ‘Tara’ Tayab, a resident of Don Salvador Benedicto.
According to the military official, the gun battle ensued after they received a report claiming local residents spotted several armed individuals roaming their area. It is believed soldiers engaged with between seven to 10 NPA rebels, which lasted for at least 10 minutes until the rebels retreated.
Soldiers recovered two .45 caliber pistols with eight live bullets, a hammock, and a rifle bandoleer from the encounter site.
No one was wounded during the battle and it is still unknown if the rebels suffered additional casualties during the fight, although around 100 civilians were evacuated.
A background check performed by police against Agustin later confirmed he is a member of the NPA Northern Negros Front and was responsible for the murder of a police officer in 2013.
Information further provided by the army’s intelligence sources noted the insurgents were in the area in order to sabotage a scheduled three-day peace summit in the city.
The army is conducting hot pursuit operations against the remaining rebels, while the captured insurgents are presently detained at the Escalante City Police Station.
The battle is the second this month following an encounter that took place in the city’s Barangay Paitan, which resulted in the death of five NPA insurgents and three soldiers suffering injuries./DGB, WDJ