Military forms board to probe Ifugao ambush

MANILA, Philippines - A military board of inquiry was formed yesterday to conduct a thorough probe on the ambush-killing of 11 soldiers and a civilian by New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Ifugao Wednesday morning. 

Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr., military spokesman, said Maj. Gen. Rommel Gomez, commander of the Army’s 5th Infantry Division, created the probe body amid reports that most of the slain soldiers were only injured after their vehicle rolled over when their driver was hit by sniper fire but were finished off by the insurgents.

“If this is true, this is a clear violation of the Geneva Convention barring the execution of wounded or injured soldiers,” Burgos said.

The probe body, Burgos said, would also determine if there were security lapses on the part of the ambushed government troops. 

Led by Lt. Col. Eugene Batara, commander of the Army’s 86th Infantry Battalion, the government troops were waylaid by at least 40 NPA rebels in Barangay Gumhang, Tinoc, Ifugao. 

Batara and his men were on their way back to their headquarters in Kiangan town after attending a command turnover in Tinoc.

In the fighting that ensued, Batara’s operations officer, Capt. Seigfred Kafilas, was killed along with 10 other soldiers and a civilian who were reportedly executed by the rebels. 

Elements of the 86th IB have launched full-scale operations against the NPA ambushers, Burgos said. 

“While we strongly condemn these NPA atrocities, the military will remain suppor-tive of all peace initiatives and undertakings of the government,” Burgos said. 

Ifugao Rep. Teodoro Baguilat yesterday condemned the NPA attack, saying it “negates the economic progress brought about by special government programs in (the area).”

Baguilat said Tinoc town in southwestern Ifugao, where the ambush occurred, has been the recipient of government services and some of the slain soldiers had helped in relief operations in remote areas in the province. – With Charlie Lagasca