A military report reaching Iloilo City last week said soldiers from the 61st Infantry Battalion (61IB) successfully foiled the atrocity after they spotted some 15 heavily armed insurgents planning to blow up the Globe cell site located at Sitio Don Jose in Barangay San Jose, Sipalay City past 7 a.m. last January 2.

A 10-minute gun battle erupted between government forces and the rebel insurgents but no casualties were reported in both sides. The firefight later saw the rebels fleeing toward different directions.

According to Lt. Col. Ricardo Bayhon, Commander of the 61IB, field troops had received intelligence report that rebels were planning to blow up the telecommunication facility. Thus, he immediately dispatched a squad of Army soldiers to the area which led to a brief gun battle with the enemy.

Bayhon said he considers the planned sabotage as a “desperate move on the part of the NPA rebels for their failure to launch tactical offensives against their hard targets in southern Negros such as military and police installations. -- Manila Bulletin