Three operating soldiers of the 20th Infantry Battalion were killed after a unit of the New People’s Army-Northern Samar (Rodante Urtal Command) attacked them outside Barangay San Miguel, Las Navas on the morning of May 24.

Red fighters detonated an explosive against the 30-man platoon of the 20th IB’s Alpha Company led by 2nd Lt. Daniel Sumawang. The soldiers were pursuing another unit of the NPA-Northern Samar which they encountered four days earlier.

Despite the all-out pursuit operations with the aid of drones, the said NPA unit was able to safely withdraw.

To the residents of Barangay San Miguel, the 20th IB is notoriously known as the butcher unit, killing peasants including Barangay Captain Apolinario “Kap Pening” Lebico, who was murdered by its death squad in 2019.