11 killed in foiled raid by NPA

DAVAO CITY, Philippines  â€“ At least seven soldiers were killed and eight others were wounded when a vehicle carrying Army troops hit a landmine in Davao del Sur yesterday morning.

Col. Norman Flores, Army 1002nd Brigade commander, said New People’s Army (NPA) rebels planted the landmine on a road in Barangay Saboy in Matan-ao.

The soldiers were pursuing fleeing NPA rebels who raided a police station in Matan-ao, town in Davao del Sur earlier.

Two policemen and two NPA rebels were killed in the raid.

The soldiers killed were identified through their surnames as 2Lt. Ludivico Alejo, Sergeant Porras, Corporals Pacionela and Jihani, Privates First Class Palma and Tanjlul, and Private Dayaday.

The wounded were also identified through their surnames: Corporal Sanayatin, Privates First Class Lingco, Abellana, Alilaya, Pacquiao, Parañal and Kancan, and Private Samano.

They were taken to Digos Doctors Hospital and Medical Center.

The policemen killed in the NPA raid were Police Officer 1 Manolo Booc and Police Officer 3 Danny Moalong of Matan-ao Police Station.

Wounded were Inspector Renato Uy, and Police Officers 1 Sherwin Cadungog and Gilbert Legaspi.

Flores said the military is verifying the identities of the two slain rebels.

The soldiers were able to retrieve the remains of two rebels slain in the raid, he added.

Flores said NPA rebels have been using landmines against government forces in violation of international agreements.

“It is really sad that while government forces and other authorities adhere to the ban on the use of landmines, these NPA rebels freely use them,” he said.

Capt. Alberto Caber, Armed Forces Eastern Mindanao Command spokesman, said about 100 NPA rebels raided the Matan-ao Police Station in Barangay Poblacion at around 4:30 a.m. on Monday.

Wearing camouflage uniforms, the rebels were riding an elf truck, forward truck, and jeepney, he added.

Caber said gunmen on a motorcycle sprayed the police station with bullets.

The rebels were able to get seven M-16 rifles and two 9mm pistols, he added.

Capt. Ernest Carolina, Army 10th Infantry Division spokesman, said about two hours later the same group of rebels harassed a military detachment in the same town.

However, troops from the Army’s 39th Infantry Battalion arrived and two rebels were killed in the ensuing shootout, he added.

Chief Superintendent Wency Pascual, Southern Mindanao police director, said that at least nine people, including the drivers of the two Elf trucks and a multicab were arrested during the pursuit.

“We are going to interrogate these drivers and the suspected sympathizers of the rebels as to the incident,” he said. - With Cecille Suerte Felipe