Army captain killed in clash with rebels in Negros Oriental

DUMAGUETE CITY — An Army officer died and another soldier was wounded Tuesday in an encounter between government troops and communist rebels in Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental.

Col. Pio Dinoso, commanding officer of the Army’s 79th Infantry Battalion, identified the fatality as Capt. Wilson Montenegro, single, from Tarlac province and the wounded soldier as Pfc Rocky B. Javier.

Dinoso said the rebels sustained an undetermined number of casualties.

He said the 2nd Scout Ranger company headed by Montenegro encountered about 30 members of the New People’s Army in sitio Avocado, barangay Talalak, Sta. Catalina at about 9 a.m. Tuesday. The 1st Scout Ranger company provided reinforcements.

Two helicopters from the Armed Forces of the Philippines Central Command arrived in Negros Oriental yesterday morning to ferry troops to the area, Dinoso said.

The government troops were still pursuing the rebels, he added.

Col. Samuel Bagasin, commander of the 1st Scout Ranger regiment was to arrive in Negros Oriental yesterday afternoon to give a medal to Javier, who was recuperating in a private hospital in Dumaguete City. /INQUIRER