Quezon City (11 October) -- THE MILITARY caught up with communist guerillas who attacked a major airport in the central Philippines and engaged the group in a running gunbattle, a spokesman for the Philippine Army said.

At around 7:45 a.m., troops from the 61st Infantry Battalion engaged some 20 New People's Army (NPA) in a firefight in Cruz village, Calatrava town, Negros Occidental province, just three kilometers from the Silay City airport, said Major Ernesto Torres.

Two UH-1H helicopters and two MG-520 attack choppers were immediately dispatched to the scene, Torres said.

At 10:45 a.m., government forces encountered the same group of NPA guerillas in nearby Tilin village. There were no immediate reports of casualties, he said.