OFF TO SAFETY. An injured deputy leader of the New People's Army is being carried to a hospital in Nueva Vizcaya on Thursday (May 26, 2022). The rebel was injured in a clash with government troops and was left behind by his comrades as they fled. (Photo courtesy of 54IB, Philippine Army) CAMP MELCHOR DELA CRUZ, Gamu, Isabela - Government soldiers on Thursday rescued an injured deputy leader of a Communist Party of the Philippines - New People's Army (CPP-NPA) band while scouring the mountains of the Cordillera and Ilocos regions, the military said Friday. Capt. Karol Jay Mendoza Jr., civil-military operations officer of the Army's 54th Infantry Battalion, said Avelino Cruz, alias Junel/Alcaras, was the vice commander of a group that fought government troops and was left behind by his comrades after being injured as they withdrew from the scene of the encounter. Cruz belongs to the CPP-NPA's Guerrilla Front Abra - Mountain Province - Ilocos Sur (GF-AMPIS) under the Iloco