Army officer, 5 NPA rebels killed in Negros clash

An Army lieutenant and five communist rebels were killed in an encounter Sunday in the central Philippine province of Negros Occidental, the Philippine Army said. Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Arnulfo Burgos said two platoons from the 62nd Infantry Battalion were conducting patrol operations at about 10 a.m. when they chanced upon an undetermined number of New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in the backwater village of Caduhaan in Cadiz City. “They [soldiers] were conducting security patrol when they fighting broke out," said Burgos. Burgos declined to identify the slain Army officer, pending notification of his relatives. Recovered from the area after the clash were M-14, an M-16 and M-653 rifles. - Sophia Dedace/KBK, GMANews.TV