SAF commandos gun down 2 NPAs in Bicol clash
A GROUP of Philippine National Police’s (PNP) Special Action Force (SAF) commandos on a “test mission” in the Bicol region shortly before noon Wednesday clashed with a group of heavily-armed New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas in Garchitorena, Camarines Sur killing two of the rebels during a ten-minute exchange of fire, PNP-SAF Director Brigadier General Edgar Alan O. Okubo said.
In a report to PNP Chief Gen. Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr., the official said that the bodies of two NPA members identified only as “Ka Pedio/Gane” and one “Ka Randy” were recovered in Sitio Bagasbas in Barangay del Pilar in Garchitorena municipality shortly after the gunbattle.
“No casualties were reported on the part of the students of the SAF Commando Course Class 113-2021 during the firefight,” the PNP-SAF director said.
Also recovered at the encounter site were two Bushmaster caliber 5.56 M-16 automatic rifles with five loaded magazines, one Carbine rifle with two magazines, one cal. .45 semi-automatic pistol, one cal. .38 revolver, a rifle grenade, two landmines, three mobile phones, and several subversive and personal belongings.
The recovered cellphones will be subjected to a technical investigation to determine the contacts of the slain guerrillas, said Okubo. He added that the serial numbers of the two M-16 rifles, the Carbine rifle, and the cal. .45 pistol will be checked with the PNP Firearms and Explosives Office to determine their real owners.
Okubo said that the PNP-SAF commandos led by Lt. Dennis Amuguis Jr. have been joined by soldiers from the Army’s 83rd Infantry Battalion in pursuing the fleeing leftist gunmen.
