Cordillera cop trainee killed, 9 wounded in NPA ambush

MANILA, Philippines - Communist insurgents ambushed police trainees in Mt. Province yesterday morning, killing one and wounding nine others, in the latest of a series of attacks on unarmed targets, authorities said.  

Ninety-five police privates, including 70 women, and their four trainers were on their regular morning jogging, unarmed and in athletic attire, when New People’s Army (NPA) rebels opened fire at them at 5:45 a.m. yesterday in Barangay Kabunagan in the mountain town of Tadian, said Chief Superintendent Benjamin Magalong, Cordillera police director.

“For many years, we have had no ambuscades in this area. The area is secured by the Army and our patrols and we were near the town center so we did not expect this attack,” said Senior Superintendent Davy Limmong, regional police spokesman.

Police identified the fatality as PO1 Denver Balabag and those wounded as Inspector Melinium Bantas and PO1s Alexander Dulnuan, Junete Ngalawen, Jasmine Salve, Jefferson Sari, Edison Waguis, Mitchell Malubon, Pawas Daketan and Robin Benito, all belonging to the Regional Public Safety Battalion in the Cordillera Administrative Region.

The Mt. Province attack came after insurgents seized five unarmed soldiers in Davao City last June 18 and killed eight unarmed police commandos in Cagayan last May 27. NPA rebels also killed five timber plantation workers in a raid in the south on June 18.

Senior Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman, said strikes against unarmed targets were typical of NPA guerrillas.

“The NPA does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants. They have carried out similar hostilities against medical missions and civic action personnel,” Sindac said.

Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala, Armed Forces public affairs chief, said the NPA attack was a “desperate act,” adding that the insurgents continue to attack “soft targets” to show that “they are still a force to reckon with.” “They are losing their mass base support and their strength is continuously dwindling,” Zagala said in a statement.

Vice President Jejomar Binay also condemned the ambush on the police trainees, saying it was a “treacherous attack” and that the PNP should pursue the attackers and bring them to justice.

For his part, Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas said the fact that the police trainees were unarmed and on their regular morning jogging “makes the attack more shocking and senseless since it was carried out without any provocation.”

Meanwhile, the PNP will look into possible security lapses in the ambush. – Cecille Suerte Felipe, Charlie Lagasca, Raymund Catindig, Artemio Dumlao, Jose Rodel Clapano, AFP

Sindac said authorities would check the possible liability of the police trainees’ commanding officers, as the ambush reportedly took place about three to four kilometers away from the headquarters of the Regional Public Safety Battalion. – Cecille Suerte Felipe, Charlie Lagasca, Raymund Catindig, Artemio Dumlao, Jose Rodel Clapano