Reds Kill SK Chairman in Catanduanes

CAMP ELIAS ANGELES, Pili, Camarines Sur (22 Sept) -A SANGGUNIANG Kabataan (SK) Chairman  in San Isidro, Pandan, Catanduanes was summarily executed by suspected NPA assailants near his home, the 83^rd Infantry Battalion commander, Lt. Col. Danilo Aquino in Catanduanes province reported to the 9^th Infantry Division in this camp on Tuesday (Sept. 21).

Aquino reported that two unidentified gunmen were earlier looking for the victim in the said village; the victim, identified as Jay Carlon Cameleon, 20, was taken by the rebels to a nearby hill near his home where he was shot to death with Cal. 45 pistol.

It was not certain if the crime was related to the coming barangay elections, but the army reported that the SK chairman was either suspected of being a military informer or was mistaken as a former rebel who had surrendered to the government.

Meanwhile in Camarines Norte province, a 9-man squad belonging to the  31^st Infantry battalion led by the First Lt. Abdul Hamid Salik encountered rebels in Barangay Calabasa, Labo, Camarines Norte at 8:30 A.M. on Tuesday.

The Army troopers who were dispatched by 901^st Brigade commander, Col. Teodoro Cirilo Torralba fought rebels from the "Kilusang Larangang Gerilya-71" in a 10-minute firefight which resulted to the seizure of a  9-MM Ingram Submachine gun, a Cal. 38 revolver, an MK2 Fragmentation Grenade,  bundles of live ammunitions and seven combat packs containing personal belongings and rebel documents.

Reportedly, the rebels fled in haste after the firefight leaving the cache of weapons and ammunitions.

9^th Infantry Division commander, Major General Ruperto Pabustan, stated in an army report that the army troopers were responding to complaints by the farmer residents that rebels had been collecting revolutionary fees in the said village when the government troopers encountered them. (SONNY SALES)