The ambush that claimed the lives of two policemen, and
caused injuries to four others, including two civilians, in Candoni, Negros
Occidental, Thursday night appeared to be similar to the Mamasapano massacre
where the slain police officers were stripped of their uniforms, personal
belongings and firearms.
But this time, the suspects are members of the New People's
Army, the Army's 3rd Infantry Division said.
Worse, the armed suspects administered the “coup de grace”
on the injured policeman – Police Officer 1 Henry Vell Pacheco – by shooting
him in the head, Senior Inspector Varie Villanobos, Candoni police chief,
yesterday said.
Also killed in the ambush was PO2 Joe Harry Peralta.
Senior Supt. William Señoron, Negros Occidental OIC police
director, said yesterday that the two slain policemen were stripped of their
uniforms, personal belongings and weapons.
Three M-16 assault rifles and two 9mm pistols of the Candoni
policemen were declared missing, and believed to have been taken by the
suspects, Señoron said.
The brand new Mahindra patrol vehicle of the Candoni police
also sustained 70 bullet holes, a report of the Scene of the Crime Operatives
showed.
The members of the Alert Team of the Candoni Police Station
headed by SPO2 Boyd Mate were on their way back to their headquarters, after
responding to a hacking incident, when they were ambushed by about 20 armed
men, police investigation showed.
Lt. Col. Rey Tiongson, 3rd Infantry Division spokesman,
yesterday said the NPA ambush is a blatant violation of the Comprehensive
Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law
(CARHRIHL), of which the rebel group is a signatory.
Local officials of Candoni headed by Mayor Cicero Borromeo
and the Philippine National Police also condemned the ambush that did not spare
even civilians.
Villanobos said the injured policemen - Police Officers 2
Jay Arroyo and PO1 Modesto Vina – are now in stable condition. The injured
civilians were identified as Rey Duales and Julius Miravalles.
Recovered from the ambush site were empty shells of M-16,
M-14 and AK 47 assault rifles, and a K-3 light machine gun.
Villanobos said the Candoni Police Station have been on
alert status since December last year, following reports that the NPA may stage
an attack.
Troopers of the Regional Public Safety Battalion 18 had
beefed up the town police station since then, he added.
Col. Francisco Delfin, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander,
yesterday said they have been conducting security operations, even
battalion-sized ones, in the hinterlands of Candoni and neighboring areas since
late last year, that resulted in two encounters with the NPA.
Delfin said he believes that, following their dislocation in
the hinterlands, the NPA rebels may have moved to the lowlands.
The ambush site in Brgy. Caningay, Candoni, is more than a
kilometer away from the town poblacion.
Delfin said the NPA showed its true color of being a
“terrorist organization” by staging an ambush even in a populated area, without
thinking of the consequences that civilians may be hurt.
Their action will not go unpunished. Those who had a hand in
this senseless killings through inhumane tactics will be held liable Tiongson,
said.
Señoron said the peace and order situation is back to normal
in Candoni, although residents at the ambush site were traumatized by the
incident.*
http://www.visayandailystar.com/2016/February/20/topstory1.htm
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