Two of the rebels died during the firefight, while the other casualty succumbed several minutes later, Major Randolph Cabangbang, spokesperson of the military's Eastern Mindanao Command said in a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Cabangbang said the clash happened at past 4 p.m. in Barangay Lorenzo Sarmiento when patrolling soldiers of the Army's 8th Special Forces Company ran into some 20 communist guerrillas.

The encounter, which lasted for several minutes, also left a soldier, Private First Class Rey Haye, slightly wounded, Cabangbang said.

Troops also recovered three high-powered rifles consisting of an M-16, an M-14 and a baby Armalite; a hand-held radio and personal belongings from the slain rebels.

“A Huey helicopter was dispatched from the Philippine Air Force Tactical Operations Groups at around 6 a.m. Sunday to ferry the recovered war materials from the encounter site to the town proper. The wounded (NPA rebel) will be brought to Camp Panacan Naval Station,” Cabangbang said.

The clash was the first between government troops and communist insurgents in 2010 in a province said to be one of the NPA's strongholds in southern Mindanao.

In 2009, clashes between government and communist rebels resulted in the deaths of over a hundred rebels, government troops and civilians in the region, the military said. -- INQUIRER