In Photo: The body of a victim in the ambush in La Castellana, Negros Occidental, lies on the back of the truck that was riddled by bullets by communist guerrillas. Nine people, including a policeman, were killed in the incident. (AP)
THE government-issued rifles of the policemen who were ambushed with several other noncombatants by communist rebels at dawn on Sunday morning in Negros Occidental malfunctioned, preventing them from engaging the guerrillas in a gunbattle.
Killed in the incident were Police Officer 1 Richard Canja, two barangay tanod and six noncombatants. Nine more were wounded in the ambush that happened in Barangay Puso, La Castellana, Negros Occidental.
Among the wounded were PO3 Constantino Villegas and PO2 Jeffrey Alvarez.
“Si PO3 Villegas at PO3 Alvarez naka-return fire pa but according to them nag-malfunction ang mga baril nila,” Senior Supt. Celestino Guara, Negros Occidental police command officer in charge, said.
The victims were onboard an Isuzu Elf light truck and were on their way home from a benefit dance when ambushed.
Guara said the ambushers shot the fatalities in the head to make sure they were dead. “Parang may finishing na ginawa sila [ambushers].… Paisa-isa na binaril sa ulo,” he said.
Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II condemned the incident and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.
“They were coming home from a barangay fiesta when they were mercilessly killed…ruthlessly attacked by what early reports say are New People’s Army rebels,” Roxas told National Police personnel and employees during Monday’s celebration of the force’s 22nd founding anniversary in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
He reiterated the government’s commitment to upgrade the capability of the police force to effectively and efficiently respond to security threats.
“Toward this goal our Commander in Chief [President Aquino] is determined to strengthen the National Police, not only through capability upgrade and new weapons but also through projects that directly benefit and improve the lives of our policemen and their families such as providing housing, education and health care,” he said.
Roxas said the National Police leadership, led by Director General Alan Purisima, should always bear in mind is to insulate the men and women in the service from “the temptation of corruption and wrongdoing that threaten to corrode the integrity and reputation of our organization and our capability to effectively serve our people.”
He also remined the force of its job of ensuring a safe and clean elections. “Dapat din maging handa tayo sa malaking pagsubok na darating. Nariyan ang eleksyon sa Mayo at ang National Police pa rin ang pangunahing ahensya na inaasahan ng taumbayan upang mapangalagaan at matiyak na ito ay maging maayos at mapayapa. Dapat natin tiyakin na maging sagrado ang resulta ng halalang ito at tunay na gusto ng taumbayan ang mangibabaw because our democracy is as strong only as the foundation from which we build it,” Roxas said.
4 soldiers killed in NPA ambushes
4 soldiers killed in NPA ambushes
FOUR soldiers were killed and 19 wounded in clashes between New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas and soldiers in North Cotabato and Davao Oriental since January 22.
Rigoberto F. Sanchez, spokesman for the Merardo Arce Command, which leads the Southern Mindanao Regional Operations Command of the NPA, said four soldiers were killed when NPA fighters under the Wilfredo Zapanta Command of Guerrilla Front 18 Operations Command blasted two vehicles of the 28th Infantry Battalion (IB) in Lupon, Davao Oriental, at 12:12 a.m. on January 22. Fourteen soldiers were also wounded in the ambush.
The Magtanggol Roque Command-Guerrilla Front 51 Operations Command also ambushed soldiers of the 57th IB on a military truck in Sitio Alang-alang, Barangay Kisante, Makilala, North Cotabato, at 10:30 p.m. on January 25, wounding five of them.
“The NPA ambush in Makilala was aimed at deterring troops who were on their way to their tactical command post in the Alang-alang detachment where the military mounted two batteries of 105mm howitzer that conducted shelling operations toward the village of Cabilao. Soldiers’ bullets also hit a child in the ear,” Sanchez said.
“The NPA’s command-detonated explosive [CDX] was directed against the notorious 57th IB elements who serve as goons for the Energy Development Co. [formerly Philippine National Oil Co.] in Kidapawan and the Dole Philippines banana plantation in North Cotabato,” he added.
The Charlie Company of the 57th IB started operations in the area on Christmas, violating the temporary cease-fire between the government and the National Democratic Front, Sanchez said. He added that the attack in Lupon was staged to punish the 28th IB, which Sanchez described as “a notorious human-rights violator in Davao Oriental.”
In defending the use of the CDX, Sanchez said: “The NPA violates no laws and international instruments as it continues to use CDX in its guerrilla warfare. It employs no stealth as it launches tactical offensive against legitimate targets, at the same time, abides war protocols and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law. This is in contrast to the Armed Forces and the US-Aquino administration’s continuing policy of committing brazen abuses like massacre, torture and extrajudicial killing of civilians and noncombatants.”
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