Army-NPA clash

LEGAZPI CITY --- An armed encounter between Army soldiers and a group of suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels ensued on Friday night, Sept. 6, in a remote village of Bulan town in Sorsogon, a Philippine Army (PA) report said.

Major Ricky Aguilar, Army’s 9th Infantry Division (ID) public affairs chief, said a 20-minute firefight took place in Barangay Sagrada at around 6:00 p.m. where soldiers clashed with a 30-man rebel group under the Arnel Estiller command operating in Sorsogon province.

Aguilar said the rebels, sensing that more Army reinforcement might arrive, immediately fled the battle scene.

No casualties were reported on the government side while soldiers claim that trails of blood were observed along the route of the rebels’ escape.