Army needs expert volunteers on trauma

From the Sun Star-Cagayan de Oro (Dec 4): Army needs expert volunteers on trauma

VOLUNTEERS skilled in dealing with post-traumatic syndrome are needed to assist in counseling and processing the experiences of persons who survived an ambulance ambush allegedly carried out by members of the New People’s Army (NPA) in a village in Agusan del Sur on Sunday, November 30.

Major Christian Uy, spokesman of the Philippine Army’s 4th Infantry Division (4ID), said Wednesday that Major General Oscar Lactao, 4ID commander, is appealing to those skilled in handling traumatic situations to help the military in its efforts to assist the survivors and the families of the slain victims.

Although a 4ID quick response team (QRT) has already been deployed to Sitio Latay, Barangay Marfil, Rosario town, Agusan del Sur, where the ambush took place, to help survivors and families of the deceased cope, they still need help from the experts who can process the trauma the affected individuals are going through, Uy told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro by phone Wednesday.

He said the QRT also assisted the families in taking care of the burial of the casualties and the needs of the surviving families.

In a statement sent by the 4ID to Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro, the attack was believed executed by some 20 members of the NPA’s Guerrilla Front 14 of North Eastern Mindanao Regional Committee.

The military said a group of 14 civilians were on their way home from a thanksgiving celebration in Wayside Baptist Church on board an ambulance when the perpetrators opened fire on the vehicle.

Some of the passengers of the ambulance, said to be owned by the local government of Rosario, were children. Four adults were killed, while four were wounded, one of them a child.

In a separate statement, First Lieutenant Jolito Borces, the 75th Infantry Battalion Civil Military Operations officer, said the church invited Marfil barangay chair Emilio Solidor Jr. to the gathering.

Around 5 p.m., Solidor told Pastor Wenefredo Daguimol, of the Wayside Bible Baptist Church, that they were leaving. With Solidor on board the ambulance were some of the churchgoers.

Borces identified those killed as Neljoy Cerna, 27; Noni Mabong, 51; Alfredo Cerna, 51; Vanessa Sabas, 30. The wounded were Liza Casilla, 47; Elmer Adonis, 37; Solidor Jr., 49; and an eight-year-old girl.

Lieutenant Colonel Norman Alcovindas, commanding officer of the 75th IB, immediately coordinated with the Philippine National Police in the area and ordered his troops to rescue the victims while some of the soldiers conducted pursuit operation, the 4ID statement read.

In the same statement, Lactao said: “This is clear evidence that NPAs are more than just criminals but a terrorist group. I strongly condemn this terroristic attack of the NPAs that killed civilians and wounded others on board an ambulance. These people came from a thanks giving mass and were probably praying for peace in their community but these godless NPAs attacked them.”

“I urge the PNP, the Commission on Human Rights, and the Church to investigate on this terroristic attack. These NPAs must be put behind bars. We cannot just let them roam around and threaten the peace-loving people of Mindanao,” he added.

Four soldiers, NPA rebel killed

Meanwhile, four soldiers and an NPA member were killed during an encounter near the villages of Halapitan and Bonacao in San Fernando, Bukidnon, around 7 a.m. Wednesday, a report aired over GMA Network’s 24 Oras in Northern Mindanao said Wednesday.

In a telephone interview with 24 Oras, First Lieutenant Vergel Lacambra, public information of the 10th Infantry Division (10ID) based in Compostela Valley, said they have yet to identify the names of the slain soldiers pending notification of their families.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cagayan-de-oro/local-news/2014/12/04/army-needs-expert-volunteers-trauma-380073