2 soldiers slain in an NPA attack in Jaro

From the Leyte Samar Daily Express (Dec 8): 2 soldiers slain in an NPA attack in Jaro

Two soldiers were killed while three others were wounded in an attack staged by the rebel group, the New People’s Army, in a mountaneous village of Jaro town in Leyte Thursday night. Killed during attack in Barangay Rubas were Private Firsts Class Ariel Cahanap and Jacob Bacolando. While the wounded soldiers were identified as Private Firsts Class Ron Van Bura-Ay; Russel Paderna and Gilbert Serdena. The wounded soldiers, hit at the different parts of their bodies, are now confined at the Ormoc Sugarcane Planters Association-Farmers’ Medical Center(OSPA-FMC) in Ormoc City for medical treatment.

Captain Drandreb Canto, spokesperson of the 802nd Infantry Brigade based in Ormoc City, said that the 8 p.m. Thursday incident was staged by about 10 rebels. The soldiers, led by Lt. Gabriel Mira, were in Rubas, about 15 kms away from the town center, as part of their foot patrol mission and just arrived there on the day of the attack,Canto said. “But they were able to fight back against the enemies,” Canto said. The firefight lasted for about 20 minutes.

The attack staged by the rebels in Jaro was conducted almost simultaneously in Albuera town, also in Leyte, Canto said. According to Canto, rebels of the same strength engaged soldiers in Barangay Atipolo, about 10 kms away from Albuera last Thursday at around 9 p.m. While no one was hurt in the second incident, a civilian who happened to be in the area was wounded. The wounded civilian was identified as Edgar Borinaga, who was hit in the crossfire.

Despite these two attacks staged by the rebels, Canto maintained that insurgency problem in Leyte remains “insignificant.” “They now come into the open (and) engaged in attacking our soldiers because they now feels the heat of our insurgency campaign,” Canto said. Last 2011, Leyte was declared as an insurgency-free province which means that the number of the rebels operating in the province have diminished considerably and could no longer stage ambush incidents significantly. In a statement, Col. Rafael Valencia, commanding officer of the 802nd IB, condemned and described the attack as another “desperate act” on the part of the NPA.

He added however that the incident would not stop them from pursuing their mission of winning the peace for the people of Leyte. Last November 30 2012, one soldier was killed and two others were wounded when elements from the 78th Infantry Battalion were ambushed by about 10 NPAs in sitio Calingatnan, Brgy. San Pedro, Albuera town. They were on their way back to their headquarters from peace and development efforts.

http://leytesamardaily.net/2012/12/2-soldiers-slain-in-an-npa-attack-in-jaro/