MANILA, June 21 -- Rebel priest Conrado Balweg escaped unharmed when the two-jeep convoy he was traveling in was ambushed, but eight members of his guerrilla army were killed, military officials said Monday.
Balweg, 42, leader of the Cordillera People's Liberation Army, went into hiding after the ambush Sunday evening, officials said.
The regional commander, Brig. Gen. Jesus de la Cruz, said the 24,000-member communist New People's Army was probably behind the ambush.
'Definitely, this must be the work of the NPA,' de la Cruz said. 'They are rivals.'
He said Balweg and his men 'were in hiding and we are certain they will take revenge.'
De la Cruz said the rebel convoy was traveling on a remote dirt road in the mountain town of Baay-Licuan in Abra province, 210 miles north of Manila, when unidentified gunmen open fired, killing all eight people aboard the first jeep.
Balweg, along with several aides and bodyguards, was behind in a second jeep and was unhurt, de la Cruz said in a telephone interview.
The rebel priest was en route to the mountain resort city of Baguio after attending a meeting with supporters in Abra.
Balweg -- who seeks autonomy for northern mountain tribesmen - signed a peace treaty with President Corazon Aquino on Sept. 22.
The Roman Catholic priest took up arms in 1979 in protest against repression and land grabbing under the 20-year regime of former President Ferdinand Marcos.
He fought with the NPA against government forces in the Cordillera highlands but broke away with the communists after the February 1986 revolution that installed Aquino.
Balweg has been publicly repudiated by the NPA, which is spearheading an 18-year communist insurgency. A 60-day cease-fire between the NPA and the Aquino government lapsed Feb. 8 and fighting since then has left more than 1,200 people dead.
Last week, Aquino delayed the signing of a decree granting Balweg's group provisional control over five Cordillera provinces after newly elected congressmen questioned the rebel priest's authority.
The military also opposed the decree which would allow Balweg's 150-member rebel force to rule the Cordilleras.