By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Two alleged insurgents from the New People’s Army (NPA) surrendered to government forces after an encounter at Barangay Buenavista in Negros Occidental’s Himamaylan City on Wednesday, November 8.

The Philippine Army requested not to identify the surrenderers due to security reasons.

Two out of nine alleged NPA members were convinced by the government troops to surrender after the encounter.

Captain Eduardo Rarugal, 94th Infantry Battalion civil military operations officer, said they immediately conducted security patrols in the area after receiving tips from residents that an alleged NPA group was spotted in the area.

A 15-minute gun battle erupted between government troops and the nine alleged NPA insurgents.

Authorities recovered three M16 rifles, 15 fully-loaded magazines, an M4 assault rifle, an M1 rifle, three bandoliers, two backpacks, a generator set, and personal belongings from the encounter site.

The soldiers also recovered several subversive documents.

Rarugal said the group they clashed with are believed to be remnants of the NPA’s Central Negros 2 – Komiteng Rehiyon Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor.

The encounter is the second incident recorded in Negros Occidental this week, following a gun battle in Cauayan town on Tuesday, November 7, where two alleged NPA rebels were killed./DGB, WDJ