Published January 22, 2021, 7:12 AM
BUTUAN CITY – Government troops clashed with a band of New People’s Army rebels collecting revolutionary taxes in the hinterlands of Barangay San Juan, Balingasag, Misamis Oriental Wednesday.
1st Lt. Jefferson Mariano, Civil Military Operations (CMO) officer of 58th Infantry (Dimalulupig) Battalion (58th IB), said residents informed them that a group of NPA rebels are forcibly collecting revolutionary taxes and food and threatened them if they don’t give these.
Troops from the 58th IB were dispatched to the area to act on the complaint and encountered the rebels, triggering a gunfight at around 7:15 a.m.
The firefight lasted for about 15 minutes and the NPA fled after realizing they were outgunned, outnumbered, and outpositioned, Mariano said.