By BEN SERRANO,
Correspondent
BUTUAN CITY — State troopers belonging to the 23rd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army clashed with New People’s Army (NPA) in the outskirts of Sitio Afga, Lower Olave, Buenavista town in Agusan del Norte on Saturday.
The state troopers––who were pursuing the Maoist dissidents in connection with the Otaza twin murders––had been tipped off by civilian informants in the area.
One soldier was woun-ded in the encounter but officials withheld the identity since the family has yet to be informed of the incident.
When the soldiers went to verify the information, the Maoist rebels opened fire at the incoming government troopers, the military report stated.
Recovered from encounter site were the insurgents’ backpacks containing personal belongings and subversive documents with high intelligence value.
Col. Alexander Macario, Commander of the 401st Infantry Brigade, which hold jurisdiction of operations of entire Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur, thanked the civilian informants for the timely information about presence of the armed dissidents.
Macario said cases of Robbery and Kidnapping with Murder were already filed before the Butuan City Prosecutor’s office against Rene Catarata, also known as Rene/Dodong/Hector Tindugan and 18 other John Does.
He added that the filing of criminal charges is based on the affidavits of witnesses, who identified the suspects. Identification was further supported by the cartographic sketch of the suspects.
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