Villagers flee fighting in NCotabato
02/04/2009 | 05:05 PM
KIDAPAWAN, Philippines – Fighting between government troops and communist rebels have sent at least 356 villagers fleeing their homes in the southern province of North Cotabato, residents helping the evacuees said on Wednesday.
The military confirmed that the clash involving the Philippine Army’s 57th Infantry Battalion and New Peoples’ Army (NPA) rebels occurred Tuesday in Barangay Bacung in Tulunan town, along the boundary of North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat provinces.
The evacuees, mostly Manobos from the villages of Tibok and Dulay, were temporarily housed in a multi-purpose building in the barangay center.
German Braga, a resident of nearby Lampagang village, said the evacuees, mostly children and elderly, were suffering from colds and other respiratory illnesses.
“The evacuation was immediate because the fighting in the hinterlands was so intense," said Braga.
Village officials on Wednesday said the evacuees were still apprehensive of going back to their homes for fear of renewed fighting.
In a radio interview, 57th IB commander Lt. Col. Milfredo Meligrito, said he ordered his men to scour Bacung village after he received reports that rebels had been training recruits there.
While on their way, the troops encountered some 30 rebels and engaged them in a 30-minute firefight, which resulted in the death of a suspected rebel identified as Jimmy Camin.
After the fighting, the troops overran an NPA training camp, Meligrito said.
He said the operations will continue until the rebels stop collecting supposed “revolutionary taxes" from villagers. Malu Cadelina Manar, GMANews.TV
The military confirmed that the clash involving the Philippine Army’s 57th Infantry Battalion and New Peoples’ Army (NPA) rebels occurred Tuesday in Barangay Bacung in Tulunan town, along the boundary of North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat provinces.
The evacuees, mostly Manobos from the villages of Tibok and Dulay, were temporarily housed in a multi-purpose building in the barangay center.
German Braga, a resident of nearby Lampagang village, said the evacuees, mostly children and elderly, were suffering from colds and other respiratory illnesses.
“The evacuation was immediate because the fighting in the hinterlands was so intense," said Braga.
Village officials on Wednesday said the evacuees were still apprehensive of going back to their homes for fear of renewed fighting.
In a radio interview, 57th IB commander Lt. Col. Milfredo Meligrito, said he ordered his men to scour Bacung village after he received reports that rebels had been training recruits there.
While on their way, the troops encountered some 30 rebels and engaged them in a 30-minute firefight, which resulted in the death of a suspected rebel identified as Jimmy Camin.
After the fighting, the troops overran an NPA training camp, Meligrito said.
He said the operations will continue until the rebels stop collecting supposed “revolutionary taxes" from villagers. Malu Cadelina Manar, GMANews.TV
