Marañon orders ‘deeper’ probe on Negros ambush

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. yesterday ordered Senior Supt. Celestino Guara to conduct a “deeper investigation” on the gruesome murder in La Castellana town early Sunday morning that left nine people dead.

“I am urging the police to dig deeper into this crime. The ambushers might be high on drugs because what they did, killing all the victims by shooting them in the head, defies human reasoning,” the governor said in a press conference at the Capitol yesterday.

Marañon said the murder of civilians couldn’t have been done by the New People’s Army (NPA) members themselves, as it is not the trait of NPA to involve civilians in their attack.

A policeman and eight civilians, some of whom were barangay officials, were killed in the ambush Sunday in the hinterland barangay of Puso, believed to be perpetrated by suspected NPA members.

The victims were on board a Fuzo Canter truck, on their way home to the La Castellana town proper, after attending a fiesta in Brgy. Puso, when the ambush took place.

All the victims had gunshot wounds in the head, indicating that the assailants made sure they were dead, by shooting them in the head, said Guara, acting Negros Occidental police provincial director.

From a number of nine people injured reported earlier, the figure rose to 12 in the evening, with the victims being treated in different hospitals.

Marañon said the Capitol has extended a financial assistance of P5,000 each to the families of the dead victims, and P3,000 each to those injured. He added that those who are being treated in government hospitals will be given a subsidy.

The governor lamented that the provincial government has worked hard to maintain the peace and order in this province, and tourism is taking off as evidenced by the thousands of guests last Sunday at Cadiz City’s Dinagsa Festival and last week’s Kabankalan City Sinulog Festival, yet this bad news made the headlines in the media instead. 

Colonel Francisco Patrimonio, 302nd Infantry Brigade commander, said that about 20 communist rebels who figured in the ambush, had shifted their operations from Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental to the hinterlands of Isabela and La Castellana towns in Negros Occidental, due to sustained military pressure on them.

Avelino Ordones, who survived the ambush said the victims, including three policemen, and members of the Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team(BPAT) of Cabacungan police outpost, had been requested to help secure the fiesta in Brgy. Puso, a mountainous area about 20 kilometers from La Castellana proper.

Edwin Sevilla, a member of  BPAT stationed at a police outpost in Brgy. Cabacungan, La Castellana, who survived the ambush, said the armed suspects shouted “Mabuhay ang NPA!”

Before the incident, Patrimonio said there were incidents of arson in Brgy. Cabacungan, La Castellana, a cargo truck and sugarcane plantations had been burned by suspected rebels in previous years.

Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz, regional police director of Western Visayas, who flew to the ambush site and met with La Castellana officials, ordered Guara to tap the investigation expertise of the CIDG, in preparation for the filing of charges against the suspects.

Task Group La Castellana was also formed to spearhead the manhunt against the suspects. Troopers of the 1st Scout Ranger and 11th Infantry Battalions, 6th Regional Public Safety Management and 5th Maneuver Platoon of the Negros Occidental Public Safety Company have joined the manhunt operations against the fleeing rebels.

Romeo Baldevarona, provincial chief of the Commission on Human Rights, said they will also investigate the incident, while La Castellana Police chief, Sr. Insp. Gary Alan Resuma said they had accounted for 21 passengers of the truck, aside from the minors. Police investigators have yet to determine the motive for the barbaric killing of the victims.

Colonel Oscar Lactao, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, also said they are looking into illegal logging as the motive for the incident, as the ambush site is near the place where a forest ranger was also killed late last year and the suspect was a resident of the area. A policeman was linked to the killing of the forest ranger. (FREEMAN)