Soldier died in misencounter between soldiers, militia

April 11, 2019

One soldier was killed in a “misencounter” in Quezon province on Thursday.

Capt. Patrick Jay Retumban, spokesman of the 2nd Infantry Division, said the casualty was Private First Class Arvin Peñaredonda of 85th IB but he later died at a hospital.

“He (Peñaredonda) was rushed to the hospital and given medical attention, however (he was) declared dead upon arrival at San Francisco municipal hospital,” he said.

The misencounter happened in the vicinity of Sitio Matingan-tingan, Brgy Casay, San Francisco, Quezon around 4:20 am.

Retumban said the clash involved squads from the 85th Infantry Battalion and the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgu) under the 59th Infantry Battalion.

He said based on initial report both troops were conducting combat patrols when the incident happened.

Retumban said after the incident the units involved conducted an investigation ''to clarify the incident.” 

Retumban said lack of coordination is one of the possible angles being looked into. Robina Asido/DMS