NEWSFLASH

8 SUSPECTED NPA REBELS KILLED IN PAETE CLASH

Paete, Laguna, May 10, 2000 - Eight suspected communist rebels, one of them a woman, were killed in a firefight with a joint team of soldiers and policemen in a remote village in Paete, Laguna yesterday morning.

According to reports reaching Camp Crame, a platoon of the Army's First Infantry Battalion's Task Force Banahaw and elements of the regional police mobile group were on a routine patrol in Barangay Bagong Bayan when they encountered a band of about 50 New People's Army fighters, reportedly led by a certain Ka Miroy.

A gunbattle ensued, leaving eight rebels dead. They remain unidentified.

The military dispatched men of the Third Scout Ranger Battalion and a MG520 helicopter to pursue the rebels who retreated towards Pakil town.

Military officials said the area has been under surveillance for months because of strong suspicions that “Ka Roger” uses the rugged terrain as his camp.

There had been minor skirmishes before the weekend between government troops and suspected communist bands in a few mountain villages nearby.

Residents of Paete and adjoining towns have been alarmed for weeks by rumors that the NPA were getting ready to attack and occupy several Laguna and Rizal towns, taking advantage of the military’s preoccupation with the problems in Mindanao.