2 cops die, 5 injured in Candoni ambush

From the Sun Star-Bacolod (Feb 18): 2 cops die, 5 injured in Candoni ambush

RESIDENTS of Candoni were shocked by an ambush just before 10 p.m. Thursday, February 18, allegedly perpetrated by New People’s Army (NPA) rebels.

The ambush claimed the lives of two police officers and injured five others at the boundary of Barangay Caningay and Poblacion East.

Vice Mayor Diomedes Magada identified the fatalities as PO1 Joe Harry Peralta and PO1 Henry Vell Pacheco, while injured were PO1 Jay Arroyo and PO1 Modesto Viña.
Also hurt were three civilians: Julius Miravalles, Rey Duales, and an unidentified individual.

Two other policemen present at that time -- SPO4 Boyd Mate and PO1 Charlemagne Caballero -- were unharmed.

Magada told Sun.Star Bacolod that the police officers responded to a call from Barangay Caningay concerning a man who was stabbed in a commotion around 9:30 p.m.

On their way back to the station, the six policemen were waylaid and fired upon by unidentified armed men near the bridge. The patrol car fell into the creek before reaching the bridge.

The gunfire lasted for 10 minutes, witnesses said.

Residents brought the wounded policemen to the infirmary, where they are still being treated.

They were referred for transfer to the Lorenzo D. Zayco District Hospital in Kabankalan City, but town officials refused to move the policemen, Magada said.

“We’d rather have them here because the armed men may ambush them on the way to the hospital to finish them off,” the vice mayor added.

Magada said the nearest Army detachment is four kilometers from the ambush site, adding that troopers have already set up checkpoints and were clearing the streets.

Unexpected, shocked

Magada said the Candoni residents were shocked by the ambush.

“We didn’t expect this,” he added.

The vice mayor said the ambush site was along a highway and not in the mountainous part of the barangay, and was only about 1.5 kilometers away from the town proper.
“It’s not a remote village,” he added.

Magada said the town police always respond to calls for assistance even from far-flung areas.

The vice mayor appealed to his constituents to cooperate in the investigation.

“If you know anything, please report it to the authorities to give justice to the fallen policemen and their families,” he added.

Councilor Loriemae Joy Gargar, whose house was only a kilometer away from the ambush site, told Sun.Star Bacolod that they heard the loud gunfire.

“This is alarming and we’re in shock,” she said, adding that some of the residents are in fear as their town had been very peaceful for years.

Gargar said that some of the elderly residents were brought to the infirmary due to anxiety.

She added that some male residents who ran toward the infirmary were only wearing undergarments as “everybody was preparing to go to sleep.”

Gargar, whose husband is also a town policeman, said that she phoned him right away after learning about the ambush and was relieved that he was safe.

The councilor called on her fellow residents to be vigilant and be careful in the wake of the attack.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/bacolod/local-news/2016/02/19/2-cops-die-5-injured-candoni-ambush-458121