Young female NPA
fighter killed in a clash in Kananga, Leyte
By
802nd Infantry Brigade,
8ID PA
November 28, 2020
CAMP DOWNES, Ormoc City
– A young female NPA fighter died in a 15- minute clash between the
operating troops of the 93rd Infantry Battalion, 8th Infantry
Division, Philippine Army and the Communist Party of the
Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) at Sitio Mat-i, Barangay
Mahawan, Kananga, Leyte about 3:35pm today.
The Kananga Municipal
Police Station identified the fatality as a certain Rochelle Mae
Bacalso alias Ruth/Justine, about 21 years old, said to be a
newly-recruited member of the remnants of Sub-Regional Committee
Levox, Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee, CPP-NPA-NDF.
The attending physician
declared her dead when brought to the Kananga Municipal Hospital,
where the troops rushed her in an attempt to save her life. She
sustained gunshot wounds in the body that caused her death.
Bacalso was among the
undetermined number of CPP-NPA terrorists who attempted to ambush a
team of soldiers patrolling in the area. The soldiers were deployed
to check reports from local residents on the presence of armed
persons who were suspected to be communist terrorists.
Captured from the
encounter site were one Austrian-made Glock pistol, one bandoleer
for M16 magazines, one magazine for M16 rifle with 29 pieces of
caliber 5.56 ammunition, one backpack with personal belongings, one
cellular phone, four hammocks, four poncho tents, and documents with
high intelligence value.
It can be recalled that in
the aftermath of the first armed encounter between 93IB troops and
the same marauding CPP-NPA band led by a certain Juanito Selleza
alias Tibor, the 802nd Infantry (Peerless) Brigade, 8ID, PA posted
in its Facebook Page photos of a certain Ruth alias Justine who was
identified as a member of the engaged communist terrorist group.
The 802Bde appealed to the
public then for help in locating her family in Samar Island or
elsewhere in Eastern Visayas in a bid to rescue her from the CTG
that deceived her into joining the armed struggle.
Facial photos taken from
the remains of the female NPA casualty whom the police identified as
Rochelle Mae Bacalso matched with the photos of Ruth alias Justine,
which were downloaded from her Facebook account bearing the pseudo
name of “Kenlyn Mark.” Three unmistakable moles under her lower lip
confirmed her identity.
Brig. Gen. Zosimo A.
Oliveros PA, commander of the 802Bde, reiterates his previous call
for “the local CTG members to abandon the armed struggle and return
to the mainstream of the society and become productive citizens.”