1 dead, 2 wounded in Batuan encounter

ANGRY exchange of gunfire and some 45 minutes of running gunbattle left a scout ranger dead and an army man and CAFGU wounded when armed men attacked government troops in routine patrol in Batuan yesterday. The recent encounter is 302nd Brigade new commander Colonel Jessie Dellosa's baptism of fire, as the consummate ranger fresh from his Muslim secessionist exploits in Mindanao has hardly warmed his seat in his Bohol duty tour. Col. Dellosa took over army's 302nd Brigade based in Carmen, Bohol barely five days before the incident that shattered Bohol peace occurred. According to reports, elements of the 1st Scout Ranger Battalion (1SRBn) led by SSgt. Sulpicio Depacto were having lunch while on routine combat patrol operations in Sitio Candalis, Barangay Sta. Cruz Batuan when an estimated 40 armed members of the New People's Army sprayed them with bullets, around 10:45 am.

The rangers, guided by unnamed members of the Civilian Armed Forces for Geographical Units (CAFGU) were reportedly validating reports of enemy sightings of an estimated 40 armed rebels in the vicinity of Barangay Behind the Clouds, some six kilometers away. The initial burst of live fire left the Ssgt Depacto-led team to seek tactical advantage but being exposed to fire, three were immediately wounded. As the government troops battled to establish defense counter measures, the ranger hit in the initial burst died while two more are currently recuperating at the Central Command Hospital in Cebu following evacuation operations. Army Civil Military operations Officer Major Jun Suaybaguio however refused to give the names of the fatality and those wounded in action pending notification of their immediate families.

Progress reports sent to the Post detail that the pursuing troopers are following bloodstains left by retreating red fighters. The rebel group have reportedly broken themselves into small fighting units and escaped to the general direction south west of the encounter area. Mop up operations also report several personal belongings left by the retreating rebels, though military spokespersons refused to divulge the items pending the nod from higher authorities.

The encounter slid Bohol 's peace efforts a notch, with the latest marring a record of years of relative peace here. As the joint forces of the 15th Infantry Battalion (15thIB), 1st SR Bn and other responding units conducted hot pursuit operations, army Major Jun Suaybaguio in a phone interview issued a call for the rebels to peacefully give up the fight before the pursuing government forces could get them.

In another development, army elements, acting upon a tip recovered three radio handsets with complete accessories in an abandoned house in Sitio Sto. Niño, Hanopol Balilihan within the week. The recovered items were left inside a sack and could probably be left by fighters in their haste to escape the approaching government troopers. Reported recovered were 1 PRC-77, hand set with battery pack and another 2 PRC-126, also with complete accessories. The recovery of the radio items happened a few days apart from the 302nd Bde leadership turn-over rites.

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