2 cops slain in Samar ambush

CATBALOGAN CITY , Philippines   â€“ Police have launched a manhunt for suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA) believed to be behind the ambush of a group of policemen here Saturday night.  

Inspector Alberto Ayad, police chief of Arteche town in Eastern Samar, and two policemen were conducting patrol operations when waylaid by an undetermined number of suspected NPA rebels at around 9 p. m. at the vicinity of Barangay Central Elementary School. 

Ayad and PO1 July Juliata were killed in the attack. PO3 Glorioso Nebril, who was critically wounded, was transferred from the Eastern Samar Provincial Hospital in Borongan City to a hospital in Tacloban City. 

The suspects fled with the arrival of responding policemen. 

Chief Superintendent Elmer Soria, director of the Police Regional Office-8, said the ambush “is a desperate act of the rebels.”