CABANATUAN CITY – The six alleged top-ranking communist leaders who were nabbed in an encounter with government troopers in Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija are now tightly guarded at the detention facilities of the provincial police special reaction team, a ranking official said on Sunday.
Senior Supt. Roberto Aliggayu, Nueva Ecija police director, also disclosed that some of the suspects were holding high positions in Central Luzon Party Committee thus considered “high risk.”
The six, Carla Ramos Bautista aka “Joy”, a political instructor of the Central Luzon Regional Committee (CLRC), Andres Lapuz Ely aka “Marco”, John Michael Ileto, Felix Sarabia and Ambrosio Ileto and Efren Delalamon, alias “Ka Baste”, were arrested after a 10- minute firefight in Barangays Sto. Nino and Polilio this city on Wednesday, Aliggayu said.
Aliggayu also said that joint police and military forces recovered one Armalite rifle, two hand grenades, three mobile phones, subversive document and P116,000 in cash money and several rounds of bullets.
Three of the five suspected rebels belonged to the Regional Party Committee, according to Aliggayu. Col. Hilario Vicente Lagnada, the commander of the 56th Infantry Battalion of the 7th Infantry Division, said the encounter happened when policemen tried to serve warrant to one of the suspects.
The joint patrolling elements were approaching an isolated farmhouse in the said village when they were met with gunfire from the rebels who occupied the said hut, prompting the soldiers to retaliate.
There was a 10-minute exchange of gunfire before some of the rebels fled with their casualties.
Six of the rebels were cornered by the troops and raised their arms to surrender. Brig. Gen. Aln R. Luga, the Commander of the 7th Infantry Division, expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the civilian residents in the area.
He also said that the arrest of the rebels is a big blow on the part of the CPPNPA- NDF in Central Luzon.
