3 suspected RHB rebels killed in Zambales clash

Three suspected members of a breakaway communist group were killed following two clashes with local police in Zambales province early Wednesday, a regional police officer said. In a text message, Chief Superintendent Arturo Cacdac, PNP Central Luzon regional director, said about 7 a.m., elements of the Provincial Public Safety Management Company encountered 30 members of the Rebolusyonaryong Hukbong Bayan (RHB) at Sitio Macahe-cahe in Malabon village in Candelaria town. The law enforcers headed by Inspector Rolando Dellezo recovered two firearms, ammunition, food supplies and subversive documents from the rebels. Dellezo, however, was wounded in the initial clash. He was promptly taken to the Candelaria District Hospital for treatment, Cacdac said. Pursuit operations by the Candelaria police and a team from the Zambales Provincial Police Office resulted in the killing of three rebels, he added. The US-based National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism describes the RHB as the armed wing of the Marxist-Leninist Party of the Philippines (MLPP), a breakaway faction of the Communist Party of the Philippines. Formed in 1998, the group operates mainly in Central Luzon. — RSJ, GMANews.TV