5 soldiers killed in clash with NPA

DAVAO CITY – Five soldiers were killed and six wounded when New People’s Army (NPA) rebels ambushed a military patrol in Davao Oriental yesterday.

In neighboring Compostela Valley, NPA rebels killed two policemen and a civilian, and wounded three militiamen in two separate attacks in Nabunturan and Compostela towns on Monday.

The rebels also wounded the wife of one of the policemen killed in Nabunturan before dawn Tuesday, according to Compostela Valley police director Ronald de la Rosa.

Five hours later, the NPA waylaid a police patrol in Compostela town, killing a policeman and wounding a truck driver.

Those killed and wounded in the three clashes have not yet been identified.

Col. Benito de Leon, Army 10th Infantry Division chief-of-staff based in Davao City, said the soldiers, who belonged to Bravo Company, Army 67th Infantry Battalion, were killed in Sitios San Francisco and Marquez in coastal Barangay Kampawan, Baganga town.

“The reports that came in were still sketchy except the fact that five of our soldiers were killed and six others were wounded,” he said.

Army and police troops are hunting down the fleeing NPA rebels, De Leon said.

In Leyte, Negros Occidental police turned over yesterday communist rebel leader Randall Echaniz to officials of the Leyte Provincial Jail in Kauswagan, Palo town.

Echaniz, who was arrested in Bago City, Negros Occidental on Monday for his alleged involvement in the killing of suspected military agents in Leyte in the 1980s, is set to be arraigned before the Hilongos Regional Trial Court, Branch 18.

Troops will be deployed at the Leyte Provincial Jail to ensure the security of Echaniz, according to Brig. Gen. Allan Ragpala, Army 8th Infantry Division deputy commander based in Camp Lucban Catbalogan City. — with Jaime Laude, James Mananghaya, Artemio Dumlao, Miriam Garcia Desacada