Sunday, April 21, 2013

NPA owns firing at Gingoog mayor's vehicle

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 21): NPA owns firing at Gingoog mayor's vehicle

The communist New People’s Army (NPA) on Sunday regretted that Gingoog City Mayor Ruthie Guingona was wounded in a "firefight" with her escort Saturday morning in the outskirts of the city.

George Madlos., a.k.a. “Oris,” spokesperson of the National Democratic Front (NDF) in Mindanao, in an interview with a local radio station here, confirmed that members of the NPA’s Guerilla Front 4B of North Central Mindanao Regional Command engaged in a firefight with Guingona’s armed escort Saturday night.

Madlos said that the NPA put up a checkpoint in Alegatan, a hinterland barangay 15 kilometres southwest of Gingoog City, a component city of Misamis Oriental, after receiving reports that politicians with armed escorts were campaigning in the area.

He said the checkpoint was purposely to implement the NPA’s policy of prohibiting candidates of bringing armed escorts with them while on the campaign trail.

Madlos said that Guingona’s armed escorts fired first prompting the NPA to fire back which resulted in the death of Guingona’s escorts.

However, Police Senior Supt. Nilo Cabog, provincial director of the Misamis Oriental, said based on their investigation the NPA staged an ambushed belying Madlos allegation that the rebels were holding a checkpoint in the area.

Cabog said that two escorts of Guingona were killed identified as the driver Bartolome (not Tomas as reported earlier) Velasco and his brother Nestor Velasco, one of Guingona’s close-in security.

Cabog also confirmed that a police officer PO3 Rolando Beneberito, one of the six police escorts of Guingona, (not Bonifacio Amper), was wounded in the firefight.

Madlos said that the NPA did not know that Guingona was on board the vehicle, a green Toyota-Hi Lux pickup.

“We feel sorry for this incident, although Guingona was warned last week not to bring armed security escort with her while on the campaign trail,” Madlos added.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=518390

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