By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
A commander of the New People’s Army (NPA) killed during an encounter at Barangay Trinidad’s Sitio Banderahan in Negros Oriental’s Guihulngan City on Monday, November 21, has been identified.
The fatality was Victor Baldonado of Central Negros 1, Komiteng Rehiyon Negros, Cebu, Bohol, and Siquijor.
Brigadier General Inocencio Pasaporte of the Philippine Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade (303IBde), said Baldonado is wanted for the murder of Joselito Raboy, a member of the Citizen Armed Forces Geographical Unit.
Raboy’s murder took place last September 24.
Pasaporte said that Baldonado was also responsible for the harassment of a police detachment in the city, and engaged in the intimidation of civilians who were wrongly accused by the NPA as military informants not just in Guihulngan, but also in neighboring Negros Occidental’s Moises Padilla town.
The gun battle lasted for at least five minutes last Monday, after the Army responded to reports of NPA sightings in the area.
Authorities recovered an M16 assault rifle with three magazines and 43 rounds of ammunition, and a backpack containing personal belongings./DGB, WDJ