POLICE today said that army authorities have cremated the bodies of the four New People’s Army rebels killed in a clash in Bukidnon after they were found to be positive for Covid-19.
PNP-10 spokesperson Lt. Col. Michelle Olaivar said Army soldiers brought the bodies of the rebels to the Divine Shepherd crematorium in Barangay Bulua last Friday.
Olaivar said the ashes of the four rebels were then turned over to the local government of Talakag who in turn gave them to their families.
“We were present during the cremation which was administered by the Army,” she said.
Olaivar said the Army told police that decision to cremate the bodies of the rebels came after it was found all of them were positive for Covid-19.
The military said the four rebels were killed when soldiers of the 1st Special Forces Battalion clashed with them in Barangay Tikalaan, Bukidnon on April 6 last week.
Brigadier General Ferdinand Barandon, commander of Task Force Peacemaker said 16 high-powered firearms and backpacks were recovered during the clearing operations in Barangay Tikalaan.
Major Francisco Garello Jr, spokesman of the Army 4th Infantry Division said one of those killed was Jelly Sugnot, a young woman in her twenties.
In a statement sent to reporters here, NPA spokesperson Alik Luna in Bukidnon challenged the army version of the encounter.
Luna said the rebels were captured alive by the soldiers and subsequently killed.
“The army version is a big lie. There was no encounter that happened in Tikalaan that day,” Luna said.
Luna said the soldiers allegedly fired their firearms in the air after they have killed the rebels they have captured.
