CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — Army troops killed a high-ranking leader of the New People’s Army (NPA) during a fierce gunbattle in the hinterlands of Surigao del Sur on Monday, according to military reports on Tuesday.

Col. Glenn Joy U. Aynera, acting commander of the 401st Infantry Brigade, identified the deceased as Edilberto Daval, known by the aliases “Bong,” “Waco” and “Bill.”

Daval served as the second deputy secretary of the North Eastern Mindanao Regional Committee (NEMRC) and was the commanding officer of the rebels’ Regional Operations Command.

Reports said that the encounter occurred in Sitio Casting, Barangay Bayan, involving joint forces from the 75th Infantry Battalion and the 3rd Special Forces Battalion.

During the operation, government forces also captured a security member of the group, identified as Jaymark Bada Lamela, and recovered high-powered firearms, including an Israeli-made Tavor TAR-21 and a Remington R4 assault rifle.

The military noted that Daval’s death follows the neutralization of his wife, Lucena Canda, a fellow ranking rebel, on 17 April.

Aynera said the loss of such key personalities reflects a “continuing collapse” of the insurgent leadership in the region.

Meantime, Indigenous People’s leaders in Surigao del Sur and Agusan del Sur on Tuesday praised the military’s success, describing Daval as a “notorious butcher” responsible for years of violence against tribal communities.

Datu Rico Maca, an indigenous representative from San Miguel, said Daval led the 2020 ambush-slaying of Hawudon Jumar Bucales, a prominent Manobo tribal defender.

Maca added that Daval was also responsible for the 2018 killing of Datu Rexan Brital and directed widespread extortion and harassment across ancestral lands.

“This is justice for the IP in our province,” Maca said.

Another tribal leader, Datu Samuel Behing of Agusan del Sur, said the insurgency has long blocked government development programs in isolated areas.

Behing, whose own father was killed by rebels in 2009, said he expects more progress in tribal communities as the rebel influence wanes.

Aynera urged remaining insurgents to surrender and avail themselves of government reintegration programs “while they still have the chance.”