A SOLDIER, a militiaman, and two suspected New People’s Army guerrillas were killed in a firefight in Samar province over the weekend, a military spokesman said yesterday.

Army T/Sgt. Roperto Jandoquille Jr. of Charlie Company, 52nd Cadre Battalion, and militiaman Felizardo Eguia, of the 10th Western Samar Detachment, and two communist guerrillas, who remained unidentified, died in the firefight, said Army spokesman Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres Jr.

“The slain rebels were left behind by their fleeing comrades,” said Torres, adding the encounter took place around 7 p.m. on Saturday in Tominamos village in Sta. Rita town.

Troops led by Jandoquille went to the village after receiving a tip from residents about the presence of communist rebels in the area.

The military found two .45-cal. pistols and four magazines with live ammunition at the scene, the officials said.

In Northern Samar province, meanwhile, Army troops overran a newly constructed NPA camp following a five-minute gunbattle, Torres said.

The camp in Somoroy village, Lope de Vega town, could accommodate as many as 30 rebel fighters. There were no confirmed casualties in the brief encounter, which started around 3 p.m., according to Torres.

In a third encounter, troops from the 11th Division Reconnaissance Company of the military’s Task Force Zamboanga seized an estimated 25 kilos of ammonium nitrate, a raw material for bomb-making, at a checkpoint along the national highway Saturday night.

The confiscated shipment was brought to the military headquarters. It was packed in a plastic crate and loaded in a Rural Transit bus bound for Pagadian City, but none of the passengers claimed ownership of it, Torres said. Arlie Calalo