BACOLOD CITY: Three suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA) died, while a Philippine Army soldier was injured in a gunbattle on Wednesday afternoon in Sitio Banwa Minatay, Barangay Marcelo in Calatrava, Negros Occidental.

Troops from the 79th Infantry Battalion (IB), responding to reports of local residents that 12 armed men believed to be rebels were conducting extortion activities in the area, engaged the enemy in a firefight that lasted 30 minutes, Lt. Col. Emelito Thaddeus Logan, 79th IB commander, said.