BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines ? (UPDATE) A junior officer of the Philippine Army and six suspected New People's Army rebels, two of whom were women, were killed in a one-hour encounter in Sitio Aluyan, Barangay Caduhaan, Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, at 10 a.m. Sunday.?

Patrolling soldiers of the 62nd Infantry Battalion engaged 20 to 30 armed NPA fighters in a gun battle that left 1st Lt. Archie Polenzo and six rebels dead, said Col. Maximo Caro, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander.

Polenzo was the commander of the Bravo Company of the 62nd IB based in Barangay Bato, Sagay City.

The bodies of the six still unidentified rebels were retrieved from the encounter site by the soldiers and brought to a funeral parlor in Cadiz City, 65 kilometers north of here.

The soldiers also recovered two M-16 assault rifles and an M-14 assault rifle with ammunition left behind by the retreating rebels.

Caro said Polenzo led the troops in an assault in the area after he received a text message from an informant about the presence of the rebels in Sitio Aluyan.

The rebels were believed to be in the area collecting revolutionary taxes, he said.

More rebels were believed to have been either injured or killed, as sporadic gun battles were still ongoing as of 5 p.m. Sunday, he said.

The body of the slain Army officer was brought to a funeral parlor in Bacolod City.

Two weeks ago, two suspected rebels from the same group were killed in an encounter with the 12th Infantry Battalion soldiers and militiamen in Barangay (Village) San Pablo, Manapla, Negros Occidental, near the encounter site in Caduhaan, Cadiz City, Caro said.

Senior Supt. Manuel Felix, provincial police director of Negros Occidental, ordered, on Sunday, the setting up of checkpoints in northern Negros to intercept the possible transport of injured rebels.

Caro said the rebels incurred numerous casualties because they were cornered by the soldiers of the 62nd Infantry Battalion.