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29
April 2009
21IB TROOPS ENCOUNTERED NPA BANDITS IN PASIL, KALINGA
Camp Melchor F dela Cruz, Upi, Gamu, Isabela - The Scout Platoon of the 21st Infantry Battalion,
Philippine Army placed under the operational control of 501st Infantry Brigade encountered more or less ten
(10) fully armed New Peoples Army (NPA) bandits at the outskirts of Barangay Bagtayan, Pasil, Kalinga at
around 12 o’clock of April 28, 2009.
A platoon led by 2Lt. Dennis William D. Villanueva was immediately dispatched to proceed in the area where civilian residents the reported enemy presence. While scouring the vicinity where the NPAs were sighted by the civilian informants, the Army troops came across the bandits and immediately fired at the enemy position which resulted to the killing of Harvey Carlos Dawaton, AKA Bady, of Brgy Bagtayan, Pasil, Kalinga. Firefight lasted for about thirty minutes and after they sensed that they were outnumbered and underpowered, the NPA bandits withdrew towards different directions leaving their fallen comrade. After the smoke of the gun battle was cleared, one (1) M14 rifle, one (1) fragmentation hand grenade, one (1) jungle pack, one (1) bandoleer, five (5) magazines for M14 filled with seventy (70) rounds of live ammunition, food stuffs, subversive documents and other personal belongings were recovered while the government troops sustained no casualty. Heavy bloodstains were also evident in the encounter site suggesting that the enemies have suffered more casualties.
The cadaver of Mr. Dawaton was brought and turned-over to PNP Pasil for proper disposition. Upon verification of the identity of the fallen terrorist, Dawaton is an NPA member included in the watch list of the government’s Order of Battle (OB).
Further revelation from the residents in the area disclosed that the enemies encountered by the troops were the same group who staged the ambuscade to Cpl Pantua and Pfc Coloma in So. Agama, Brgy Uma, Lubuagan, Kalinga last April 4, 2009. The two soldiers were on their way to their camp from the said barangay after officiating a basketball game when they were flagged down by the group of Dawaton. Shortly afterwhile, the two soldiers were found dead with multiple gunshot and hack wounds to their bodies.
As of this time, the engaged Army troops are still conducting search operation in the immediate vicinity of the encounter site while other available troops near the area were alerted to conduct pursuit operation to track down the withdrawing NPAs/CTs and to seal-off their possible routes of withdrawal.
This incident only proves that the people in the barangay are already tired and fed-up of supporting the God-less, useless and hopeless ideology the NPAs are fighting for. The mere act of reporting to the military an enemy presence in their locality just goes to show that the people no longer conform to the NPA cause.
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