NBI assists in hunting NPA rebels who killed 5 cops in ambush

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 22, 2021): NBI assists in hunting NPA rebels who killed 5 cops in ambush (By Benjamin Pulta)

COMMUNITY SERVICE. Members of the Camarines Norte Police Provincial Office provide various services in Barangay Dumagmang in Labo town on April 13, 2021. Five police officers died in an ambush in the area on March 19, reportedly carried out by members of the New People’s Army. (Photo courtesy of Camarines Norte PPO)

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will assist in going after the suspected New People's Army rebels who ambushed a police vehicle in Camarines Norte last month that killed five police officers.

DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra said on Thursday that the NBI “is ready to provide assistance”.

“The NBI will provide assistance unless fraud was employed and liability is civil in character,” Guevarra told the Philippine News Agency in a text message.

Earlier, the construction firm of the Tagkawayan (Quezon)-Labo Road Project reported the demand of the New People’s Army to pay three percent to five percent of the entire cost in exchange for the safety of their workers and equipment.

On March 19, personnel from the 2nd Provincial Mobile Force Company (2PMFC) were sent to Labo, Camarines Norte to oversee the road construction project which will connect a portion of Quezon province.

The seven members of the 2PFMC were ambushed in the vicinity of Purok 6 in Barangay Dumagmang. A three-hour encounter ensued and ended with five officers dead and two others wounded.

Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, who was Philippine National Police Officer-in-Charge then, ordered the Police Regional Office-4A (Calabarzon) and 5 (Bicol) to go after the suspects and coordinate with the military.

“The CPP-NPA-NDF (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front) has been given all the opportunity to sit down in order to give peace and development a chance for the Filipino people. Yet over the years, they repeatedly turned down peace negotiations and instead resort to cowardly attacks even in the time of the pandemic," Eleazar was quoted as saying.

“Clearly, these people do not understand the language of peace so we will deal with them in a manner that they fully understand our message that we shall never tolerate this kind of terrorism activity,” he added.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1137626