DAVAO DE ORO, Jan. 6 (PIA) - - Personnel of the Philippine Army killed the top leader of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Mindanao in an encounter in Mabini town, Davao de Oro, January 5, 2022. According to the report from the 10 th Infantry Division, Menandro Villanueva alias Bok sustained several gun shots leading to his death during an armed battle with the 1001 st Infantry Brigade and the members of the Regional Headquarters, Southern Mindanao Regional Command (RHQ,SMRC) in Barangay Libudon, Mabini. The encounter was a result of the continued focused military operations of the brigade since September 2021. Villanueva is the longest-serving Secretary of Southern Mindanao Regional Committee (SMRC), currently the Secretary of Komisyong Mindanao (KOMMID), Commanding Officer of the NPA’s National Operations Command (NOC), and member of the POLITBURO of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Reports said that Villanueva is one of the founding members of th