Troops, NPAs clash in Bohol; 1 nabbed
HEAVY fighting erupted between a group of patrolling Army soldiers and New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas in San Isidro, Bohol late Wednesday morning, a Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 report said.
PRO 7 Director, Brigadier General Jerry F. Bearis said that the clash erupted as a platoon of soldiers from the Army’s 47th Infantry Battalion (IB) were conducting a combat patrol in Sitio Bajong, Barangay Baunos in San Isidro municipality, around 10:40 a.m. Wednesday December 28, 2022.
The troopers, led by 1st Lieutenant Emil Zamoranos, exchanged heavy fire with the rebels for about ten minutes until the guerrillas retreated on foot.
No casualty was reported on the side of the military, although the Bohol Police Provincial Office (PPO) said troops are still searching the scene for any sign of wounded gunmen.
Local policemen immediately put up checkpoints in the area to intercept any of the escaping rebels and have started checking local hospitals and clinics for the presence of any person seeking treatment for gunshot wounds, said Bohol PPO Director Col. Lorenzo A. Batuan.
Meanwhile, a most wanted NPA rebel in Central Visayas was captured by the local police in a manhunt operation in Talibon, Bohol triggered by information from some concerned citizens, a PRO 7 report said on Thursday.
The suspect with the alias “Ka Cardo,” a 24-year-old jobless resident of Purok 4 in Barangay Zamora in Talibon municipality, was tracked down in his neighborhood at 6 p.m. Wednesday, said the PRO 7 chief Bearis
The official said that the suspect was arrested on the strength of a warrant for murder and attempted murder and murder charges issued by Carmen, Bohol Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judges Jorge Espinal and Judge Adonis Laure, respectively.
Espinal issued the warrant last November 14, while Laure ordered the arrest of the accused on August 16, 2021. No bail was recommended for the suspect in connection with the murder case filed against him.
Bearis, citing a report from Batuan, said that Evardone is a known member of the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines)-NPA Bohol Party Committee and had been tagged as the 3rd most wanted man in Bilar town before his arrest.
Members of the Bohol Provincial Mobile Force Company led by Lieutenant Colonel Homubono Sayon, the Talibon Municipal Police Station under Major Erenieto Feniza, and Maj. Rey Olar and the Bohol Provincial Intelligence Unit, headed by Lt. Col. Joemar Pomarejos arrested the suspect following months of surveillance, the PRO 7 said.
The suspect is now being held at the Talibon police jail pending further orders from the court, said Bearis.
