3 NPAs killed in clash with 37th IB personnel

COTABATO CITY --- Soldiers shot dead three members of the New People’s Army in a brief encounter Sunday in Senator Ninoy Aquino town in Sultan Kudarat province.

The gunfight erupted when NPAs attacked a team from the Army’s 37^th Infantry Battalion of the 603^rd Brigade out to check the reported presence of rebels in Barangay Bugso, Senator Ninoy Aquino collecting “protection money” from villagers. 

Major Gen. Diosdado Carreon, commander of the Army’s 6^th Infantry Division, said personnel of the 37^th IB were able to locate the NPAs with the help of vigilant villagers in Barangay Bugso.  

The slain rebels, whom local officials and barangay leaders identified only as Eduardo, Allan, Ruben, belong to a group led by Commander Rayray of the NPA’s self-styled Daguma Front under the group’s Far South Mindanao Regional Command.  

Soldiers found beside the cadavers of the slain NPAs communication equipment, a .45 caliber pistol, food supplies, medical kits and schematic diagrams detailing how to assemble improvised explosive devices.