An alleged high ranking official of New People's Army (NPA) and two others were killed in a firefight with the military in Antipolo on Thursday morning.

Capt. Jayrald Ternio, public affairs division head of the 2nd Infantry Division, said killed was Armando Lazarte alias Pat Romano, secretary of Southern Tagalog Regional Party Committee’s Sub-Regional Military Area 4A.

Ternio said Lazarte was with two other persons inside a safehouse in Brgy Cupang’s Sierra Vista Subdivision in Antipolo City when the clash happened around 2 am.

He said the police and military forces were serving warrants of arrest for murder and frustrated murder on them when they opened fire at the arresting officers.

Col Alex Rillera, commander of the 202nd Brigade, said after the initial exchange of fire the “security forces applied first aid to the wounded terrorists who were then brought to Amang Rodriguez Hospital where they were declared dead on arrival by the attending physician.”

Ternio said government troops recovered one M-16 rifle, one 9 mm pistol, one cal .45 pistol, two hand grenades, laptops, cellphones and voluminous enemy documents after the encounter.

He said the recovered items are now being processed by Rizal Provincial Police Office’s Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) for investigation.

According to Lt. Col. Christopher Diaz, commander of the 80th Infantry Battalion “alias Pat Romano is an NPA commander who led burning of equipment at the Kaliwa Dam project in Infanta, Quezon early this year and series of ambush using land mines against the PNP in Baras and Antipolo City last 2018.”

Major General Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr, chief of the 2nd Infantry Division, said the death of Lazarte “is a decisive blow to the communist terrorists for it will result to leadership vacuum, thus, further pushing them on the brink of collapse thereby fast-tracking our efforts to defeat insurgency and liberate our people from the clutches of terrorism in this part of the country.” Robina Asido/DMS