The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will continue its humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) missions despite a rebel ambush of a military relief column in Pinabacdao town, Samar which resulted in the wounding of two soldiers on Friday morning.
"We will continue with our relief and assistance
operations for the victims of the typhoon," AFP spokesperson Col.
Restituto Padilla said.
He added that the NPA attack will not hamper ongoing HADR
operations for typhoon "Nona" victims who are in need of AFP
assistance.
Earlier, the military condemned the rebels for ambushing
military units conducting HADR operations in typhoon- battered Eastern Samar which wounded two troopers at around 7:20
a.m. Friday.
Units affected by the NPA attack are the 546th Engineering
Battalion and the 83rd Division Reconnaissance Company.
The military column conducting HADR operations consists of
three trucks (one M-35, one Mignon and one-mini dump truck) and headed by 1st
Lt. Fritz F. Perez with two civilians from the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD).
These personnel were on their way back to the Office of the
Civil Defense-Region 8 in Tacloban City after transporting relief goods to individuals
severely affected by "Nona" in Eastern Visayas .
Padilla said the group was fired upon by an undetermined
number of NPA rebels in the boundary between Barangays Madalunot and Pahug in
Pinabacdao town, triggering a 15-minute firefight which resulted in the
wounding of two soldiers and undetermined casualties to the rebels as they
withdrew in different directions.
"This clearly shows the NPA’s disregard to the plight
of our brothers and sisters in Samar who were
devastated by the onslaught of storm 'Nona'. This is also a clear indication
that the NPAs continuously and deliberately conduct atrocities against our
troops and public servants who are only doing their job to alleviate the
suffering experienced by storm victims in the Visayas," he added.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=839463
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