Three unidentified bodies of New People's Army (NPA) rebels alongside their weapons were recovered by the joint military and police troops on Sunday, after a two-day clash in Barangay Oringao, Kabankalan City in southern Negros Occidental.
In a report from the Philippine Army's 94th Infantry Battalion (94IB), the fatalities were the result of the 20-minute encounter between the government forces and a group of 15 rebels in Sitio Bugne at around 8:00 a.m.
The first clash occurred shortly after 5 PM on Saturday.
94IB troops, along with members of the Philippine National Police's Regional Mobile Force Battalion-Western Visayas and the 2nd Negros Occidental Provincial Mobile Force Company, responded to reports of armed men in the village's remote sitios.
Col. Orlando Edralin, commander of the 303rd Infantry Brigade, praised the 94IB troops in a statement issued late Sunday night.
Troops discovered an M14 rifle, .45 and.38 caliber pistols, all loaded with ammunition, as well as backpacks, personal items, and subversive documents during the clearing operation.
According to Kabankalan City Mayor Benjie Miranda, the series of encounters displaced over 800 residents who sought refuge in the village-covered court since Saturday night.
