TUGUEGARAO CITY, Philippines – New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas believed to be responsible for the ambush in Allacapan town that left eight police officers dead were spotted in nearby Lasam town in Cagayan last Saturday.
The rebels, said to be led by Lolito Rasa, evaded police and military troops out to hunt them, said Chief Inspector Eduardo Felix, head of the Lasam police.
Police records showed that the rebel group – the Danilo Ben Command - is also responsible for the 2011 killing of a police chief of Rizal town and four others.
Felix told The STAR that the guerrillas reportedly set up an encampment in the mountain village of Magsaysay after last week’s ambush.
“All we saw in the area were food leftovers and wrappers,†he said.
The rebels were believed to have proceeded to the Zinundungan Valley complex in the boundary of Rizal town, a known NPA stronghold near Apayao province.
Felix said joint police and military security forces were monitoring the possible return of the rebels.