As per reports, several days after the clashes were reported between army personnel and the New People’s ARMY (NPA), nearly 100 individuals continue to stay in the evacuation center in Barangay Pinapugasan, Escalante city, Negros Occidental. Pursuit operations against the fleeing rebels are still underway, while the encounter sites have already been declared “cleared,” with no sightings of rebel remnants reported.

Army spokesman Lt. Col. J Jay Javines stated that the remaining displaced residents may now return to their respective homes, as he advised them to seek coordination with the 79th Infantry Battalion. Nearly 160 families, composed of 600 individuals, from the hinterlands of Escalante City and Toboso, who were among those temporarily displaced returned to their respective homes on Friday (23 February).