5 soldiers killed in Mountain Province clash

Five Army-enlisted personnel were killed while another one was wounded when suspected communist rebels opened fire in Mountain Province in northern Philippines last Wednesday, a regional military commander said. In a text message to reporters Thursday, Col. Remegio de Vera, commanding officer of the 501st Infantry Brigade, said troops belonging to the 54th Infantry Battalion were ambushed by about 20 New People's Army (NPA) rebels at the vicinity of Mt. Bato in Mainit village in Bontoc town past 10 a.m. Wednesday. De Vera identified the fatalities as Privates First Class Camilo Abad, Casem Joseph, Napoleon Ramirez, Joey Corpus and Velasco Mayao. The wounded soldier was identified as Private Salvador Villanueva. The rebels were headed by a certain Ka Ronnie/Dandan, de Vera said. Captain Adonis Banez, spokesperson for the 501st IB, said that at the time of the ambush, the troops were responding to information that a group of armed men were seen in the area. "The rebels were located on an elevated portion, they fired at our soldiers which triggered a 30-minute firefight," Banez said. Rebel casualties were undetermined, Banez said, adding that pursuit operations are ongoing. The clash came two months before the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), marks its 41st founding anniversary on March 29. In June 2006, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the military and police to crush the communist insurgency by the time she steps down from Malacañang in June 2010. As of end December 2009, the military estimated the number of NPA armed regulars to be around 4,700. Peace negotiations with the mainstream communist movement have been stalled since August 2004. - RSJ, GMANews.TV