Boy, 4, killed, 3 hurt in Albay NPA ambush

LEGAZPI CITY — A four-year-old boy was killed and three other civilians were wounded when they were caught in the crossfire between Scout Rangers and New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Ligao City, Albay last Wednesday.

Killed was Francis Orap, 4, and wounded were his five-year-old sister Marites, Danilo Pacites, 21, and Michele Labradella, 27, all residents of Barangay Allang, according to Col. Ramon Santos, commander of the Army’s 901st Infantry Brigade based in Daraga town.

Santos said the Scout Rangers were on their way to their camp in Barangay Tula-tula on board an M-35 truck and a V-150 armored vehicle, when they were fired upon by some 40 rebels.

The attack came a day after insurgents waylaid a group of Air Force engineers and construction personnel in Uson, Masbate, killing one soldier and wounding 13 other men.

The group, belonging to the 355th Air Engineering Wing, had just come from Dimasalang town where they had built a schoolhouse.

Santos said the Ligao ambush occurred about five kilometers away from the headquarters of the Army’s 22nd Infantry Battalion.