PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Aug. 11 – A clash between elements of the Palawan Police Provincial Office (PPO) and armed militants of the New People’s Army (NPA) broke out Friday morning in the municipality of Taytay, a police senior official told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
PPO Director Senior Superintendent Gabriel Lopez said noontime Friday that raw reports from the Municipal Police Station (MPS) in Taytay stated that the confrontation is still occurring at Sitio Maubog, Barangay Alacalian, involving more or less 20 armed insurgents.
“It started around 10:30 a.m., I don’t have any news yet if the encounter has ended but the Western Command (WESCOM) has already sent reinforcement,” Lopez stated.
As a result of the encounter, Lopez said he has ordered checkpoints to be established to cordon the area. “I have ordered checkpoints to be set up to cordon the area. I’m waiting to hear from my field personnel now,” he said.
It can be recalled that on July 19, two young soldiers of the Marine Battalion Landing Team-12 (MBLT-12) were murdered by members of the communist-terrorist group in nearby Roxas town, northern Palawan.
Taytay is a first class municipality in the province of Palawan. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 75,165 people. (PNA)
