PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur -- The Army has assured mountain resort operators in Zamboanga del Norte and Misamis Occidental of their safety amid recent encounters with communist rebels in the area. Lt. Col. Nolasco Coderos Jr., commander of the Army's 97th Infantry Battalion, said the armed encounters in the last few days in Sergio Osmea and Pian towns were due to the New People's Army guerrillas being constricted by intensified military operations, and not due to a harassment operation. Coderos explained that the rebels were running away from their lairs in Misamis Occidental's side of the sprawling Malindang mountain range and had strayed into Pian and Osmea towns. Th...Keep on reading: Military hunts 19 remaining NPAs in Zamboanga Peninsula