Special task force created vs suspects in La Castellana ambush

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 29): Special task force created vs suspects in La Castellana ambush

The Western Visayas Police on Tuesday ordered the creation of a special investigation task force following the bloody Sunday ambush in Brgy. Puso, La Castellana, Negros Occidental where nine were killed, including a police officer, and six others were seriously wounded.

PRO6 regional director C/Supt. Agrimero Cruz in Camp Delgado here said Task Force La Castellana is composed of police and Philippine Army’s Scout Rangers led by Negros Occidental officer-in-charge director S/Supt. Celestino Guara Jr. with augmentation force from Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and Regional Public Safety Battalion.

He said the task force would be running after the rebels believed to be members of New People’s Army’s Komite Rehiyon-Negros even as appropriate criminal charges were being readied to be filed against them.

The La Castellana Philippine National Police (PNP)said that a BPAT member has luckily survived the ambush. Based on his testimonies, before the more than 15 armed suspects left the crime scene, they shouted and introduced themselves as members of the rebel group.

The survivor narrated his grueling ordeal by hiding his head on the spare tire with lifeless bodies of his three fellow BPATs on top of him serving as shield from raining bullets, thus, he was not readily noticed by ambushers who indiscriminately sprayed them with bullets for at least 10 minutes.

He further narrated that the mortally wounded police officer and fellow BPATs begged for their lives but the rebels mercilessly shot them on their heads at close range. They also took away PO1 Richard Canja’s service firearm.

The fatalities were Canja and BPAT members identified as Jonathan Mateo, Ulysses Tamayor and Ramir Compleza, all residents of Brgy. Cabacungan; tanod members Mario Ricablanca and Timoteo Esplegera of Barangay Puso; Fuso Canter truck driver Ricky Dingcong; and civilians Lito Lucban and Virginia Ordoñez. Canja’s two fellow police officers identified as PO2 Jeffrey Alvarez and PO3 Constantino Villegas were among the six other civilians injured. They are presently confined in various hospitals for treatment.

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