2 alleged NPA members killed in Samar
Capt. Amado Gutierrez, spokesperson of the Army's 8th Infantry Division, said soldiers were dispatched to Rizal village in Matuguinao town last Tuesday where the rebels were said to be roaming.
"The informant also said that the NPAs were urging the people to vote for a certain candidate the rebels are supporting and were extorting food and money from barangay folks," said Gutierrez.
At around 7 a.m., he said soldiers from the 43rd Infantry Battalion briefly clashed with the undetermined number of rebels at the village. This was followed by another brief firefight 15 minutes later in the same village.
Apart from the killing of the two rebels, the clashes resulted in the recovery of an M16 rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun.
Gutierrez said the rebels were pushing for the candidacy of left-leaning candidates whom they can manipulate.
Pressed if the candidates the rebels were campaigning for are themselves NPA members, Gutierrez said, "We have no information but whether NPA or not, if they are left-leaning (and they win), the resources of the barangay will go to the other side (communist movement) and won't go to the people."
Brig. Gen. Jet Velarmino of the 8th Infantry Division said, "It is rather alarming that as early as now the NPAs are already campaigning for their candidates (in the village) for the upcoming barangay election."
The campaign period for the Oct. 28 barangay elections formally commenced Friday.(VR/Sunnex)
Source http://www.sunstar.com.ph/breaking-news/2013/10/18/2-alleged-npa-members-killed-samar-309281
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