ZAMBOANGA CITY ,Philippines – At least four people, including three police officers, were killed while five others were wounded in an ambush staged by the communist insurgents in Barangay Mapayag, Malaybalay City, Bukidnon province Sunday, according to a military official.
The rebels initially killed a former village official identified as a certain Picharo, apparently using it as bait, then pounced on unsuspecting police forces who responded to the incident.
Maj. Eugene Osias, Regional Spokesman for Army’s 4th Infantry Division based in Cagayan de Oro City said the police forces from Malaybalay City Police Office (MCPO) and Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) were on convoy on two police vehicles when they were fired upon by about 20 heavily armed members of the New People’s Army (NPA) at around 10:30 a.m.
Three SOCOs died on the spot while five others were wounded in the initial volley of fire before the rest of the police personnel retaliated and repelled the rebels.
Police and military reinforcement arrived in the ambush site, but the rebels who were later identified to be members of the NPA Front Committee 89 have already withdrawn and fled towards the mountains.
Osias said Maj. Gen. Victor Felix has directed the military forces to mount operations against the ambushers.
“The ambush depicted the treacherous character of the NPA despite of the peace talks the government is offering with the communist party,” Felix said.
He stressed that the military ground forces adhered to the prime of the peace talks and reiterated that the operations will be conducted against the perpetrators of the ambush incident.
Osias also alerted the military’s intelligence and civil-military operation units regarding reports that the communist rebels are extorting money from teachers.
He said they are now coordinating with the Department of Education (DepEd) after teachers assigned in the remote villages of Bukidnon have complained that members of the NPA are demanding P300 per month from them.
“The P300 per month is already significant for school teachers. Community leaders and local government units are now fearful that teachers would not like to be assigned in these areas,” Osias said.
Another band of suspected NPAs raided a remote village in Columbio town in Sultan Kudarat province and burned down a house occupied by the military yesterday afternoon.
No one was injured in the attack at the house reportedly used by the patrolling soldiers of the 27th Infantry Battalion (IB) as resting and sleeping point.
The house is located at the strategic point of Tela Paz, one of the villages the NPAs wanted to control.
Lieutenant Colonel Alejandro Nacnac, commanding officer of the 27th IB based in nearby Tupi, South Cotabato, said the communist insurgents simultaneously fired their guns towards the house and then torched it. – With Ramil Bajo, Alexis Romero, Edith Regalado, John Unson, Miriam Desecada, Cecille Suerte Felipe