An NPA-Mindoro (Lucio de Guzman Command) unit preemptively struck the attacking 1st IB troops in Sitio Tugas, Barangay San Vicente, Roxas, Oriental Mindoro Province on September 9. According to the unit, it immediately detected the presence of the 1st IB forces, which allowed the Red fighters to promptly prepare, position themselves, and open fire.
The battle killed a soldier and wounded two others. In their public statements, the 1st IB and 203rd IBde denied the casualties despite widespread social media posts showing their dead and wounded troops being loaded onto a helicopter.
After suffering losses, the 1st IB troopers cowardly retaliated against the civilian population near the community, carrying out bombings, shelling, and strafing on the night of September 9 until the early morning of September 10.
In fear and trauma, residents of Sitio Swerte, Tugas, and other communities were forced to evacuate. Hundreds of residents were hindered from their livelihood from fear of the military presence in the mountains.
Meanwhile, the NPA-Mindoro honored a Red fighter martyred in the battle. NPA-Mindoro spokesperson Ka Madaay Gasic said Ka Kardo was killed while bravely fighting the fascists.
Ka Kardo, 33, hails from the peasant class. He wholeheartedly served as a fighter of the oppressed masses for more than a decade of his life. “The death of a revolutionary like Ka Kardo, and of all the martyrs of the people, is as heavy as Mount Halcon,” Ka Madaay declared.
Source : https://philippinerevolution.nu/angbayan/npa-mindoro-preemptively-strikes-advancing-1st-ib/