Two alleged members of New People’s Army (NPA) were captured after an encounter in Northern Samar last Thursday.

Capt. Francis Agno, the 8th Infantry Division public affairs chief, said the troops of 43rd Infantry Battalion were conducting security patrol when they encountered an undetermined number of alleged rebels in Brgy. San Vicente, Catubig, Northern Samar around 4:05 am.

“Troops were in the area to check the validity of the information relayed to them by the populace on the extortion activities of the armed group,” he said.

Agno said government forces also recovered war materials and other items.

He said the recovered items includes “one M16A1 Elisco rifle, two long magazines long, two short magazines, 79 rounds for 5.56mm ammunition, one Lenovo laptop, three USB drive, one memory card, two card readers and, two cellphones.”

According to Maj. Gen. Raul Farnacio, Army’s 8th Infantry Division Commander, the “troops are there in the area to protect the people and safeguard the ongoing PAMANA Projects and other government projects in Northern Samar.”

“This incident clearly shows that these communist terrorist are desperate to incur casualties on government troops to slow down the delivery of basic services of the government to the communities,” he said. Robina Asido/DMS