MANILA, Philippines—A suspected communist rebel who took part in an ambush with Army soldiers in Oriental Mindoro was arrested about 10 hours after the gun battle, a military spokesman said Tuesday.
Armed Forces spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner, Jr. said troops from the 4th Infantry Battalion arrested New People’s Army fighter Heyo Idlaw, alias “Itag”, at around 3 p.m. Saturday.
“Yesterday, he (Idlaw) went through paraffin test and we are waiting for the result of the test from the crime laboratory,” Brawner said.
He said Idlaw was chanced upon by government troops pursuing fleeing rebels following a three-hour firefight in the village of Panaytayan, in the southern Oriental Mindoro town of Mansalay on Saturday.
Eleven members of the 23rd Division Reconnaissance Company died while seven others were wounded in the ambush.
It was the Army’s biggest loss in a single encounter with the rebels this year.
Brawner said that Idlaw, who was undergoing debriefing, has admitted being involved in the clash.
Private Juralp Culili, a member of the 23rd Division Reconnaissance Company, identified Idlaw as one of the rebels the soldiers encountered last Saturday.
Pursuit operations against the communist rebels were ongoing in Oriental Mindoro, said Brawner, quoting officials from the 2nd Infantry Division in Oriental Mindoro.
“The pursuit operations are still ongoing and we believe that we will be able to catch up with the group within the next few days,” Brawner said.
