BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Fresh armed hostilities ensued between Army soldiers and New People’s Army rebels, tagged as suspects behind the liquidation of a government militiaman, in Brgy. Luz, Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental on Saturday.
Col. Michael Samson, acting commander of the 303rd Infantry Brigade, said yesterday that the brief encounter took place as the 62nd Infantry Battalion held pursuit operations against NPA rebels, who were behind the killing of CAFGU member Mico Dinoy, 28, who was waylaid and shot dead on Jan. 28 by communist rebels, while on his way home to the barangay.
Samson said that Dinoy, who was assigned at the Imelda detachment, was not on duty and was driving a “habal-habal” at the Luz-Hinakpan road, when he was killed.
He added that Dinoy succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds.
Pursuit operations by the Guihulngan police, in tandem with the 62IB soldiers, led to the arrest of two minors, who were pinpointed by witnesses to be “look-outs” of the armed perpetrators, Samson also said.
The two minors, 16 and 17 years old, were turned over by the Guihulngan police to the City Social Welfare and Development Office for custody, and charges against them were filed in court, he added.
The Task Force ELCAC (Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict) of Guihulngan City, chaired by Mayor Carlo Joan “Guido” Reyes, has condemned the killing of Dinoy.
Reyes also lauded the cooperation of residents that led to the arrest of the two suspects. Samson added that pursuit operations will continue without letup against the NPA remnants in the area.*
