4 soldiers killed in NPA ambush in Mindoro

CALAPAN, Oriental Mindoro – Suspected communist rebels ambushed an Army convoy near a resort town, killing four soldiers and wounding nine others, including a brigade commander, police said yesterday.

The attack Sunday near the diving town of Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro came as the New People’s Army (NPA) stepped up assaults across the country.

About 50 rebels fired rifles and grenade launchers from a hilltop on a van carrying Col. Jovito Palparan and four escorts along a winding mountain road, and a truck traveling behind it with 24 soldiers, said Mindoro police chief Voltaire Calzado.

A fierce firefight between the rebels and Army troops lasted two hours.

Two soldiers were killed instantly and two died later.

Nine were wounded, including Palparan, who was hit in both thighs, Calzado said.

Palparan is an Army brigade commander on Mindoro island.

The rebels also attacked a truck of Army reinforcements, about a half-kilometer from the first ambush site, but no soldiers were injured Calzado said.

The guerrillas then withdrew.

Palparan and the soldiers were traveling to Puerto Galera to set up an Army detachment because of frequent reports of rebels in the area, Calzado said.

The ambush happened in a remote area 11 kilometers from the town.

Palparan was airlifted to V. Luna Hospital in Quezon City Sunday night, while his driver was taken to a hospital in Calapan City.

The NPA is active in Oriental Mindoro, a poor, mountainous province of about 600,000 people.

A police chief and a retired police chief of Puerto Galera, which is famous among foreign divers and tourists, were killed by the rebels in separate attacks last year.

The NPA intensified attacks after the United States and European countries included the communist rebel movement earlier this year in a list of terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda, and launched a campaign to cut off its international support.

In Nueva Ecija, seven NPA rebels and an Army soldier were killed in a clash in remote Barangay Puncan in Carrangalan town after troops foiled an attempt by rebels to sabotage a cell phone relay station and a hydroelectric plant.

Col. Jovenal Narcise, commander of the Army’s 702nd Infantry Brigade, said relatives identified the slain rebels as Fernando Paggao alias Ka Nardo, Esteban Crisostomo alias Ka Junjun, Gary Soliven, Ed Peralta alias Ka Popoy, a Ka Anton and one Ka Arthur.

The dead soldier was Cpl. Tony Caballero.

Wounded were Cpl. Joe Julius Curameng, and NPA rebels Ka Omeng, Evangel Evangelista alias Ka Benjie, Ka Dindo and Ka Aldo.

Narcise said the rebels, who were led by Ka Omeng, were poised to strike at the relay stations of Kita-Kita Telecommunications and the Casecnan Hydroelectric Plant.

Narcise said troops discovered an NPA camp with enough huts to house about 100 people, three M-16 rifles, magazines and ammunitions, subversive documents, and personal belongings.

Narcise said about 80 to 100 NPA rebels have fled the camp to remote areas on the boundary of Pantabangan, Palayan City, and this town.

"We are still finding out if the rebels belong to the same group that burned the Diapatan Resources Development Corp. in Aurora last Friday," he said.

Some 50 NPA rebels overwhelmed the few soldiers stationed in the area, Narcise added.

The body of one Kim Aguila, alias Commander Karim, who was killed in a clash earlier, remained unclaimed at Army headquarters.

In Sarangani, troops and militiamen killed three NPA rebels and wounded three others after a two-hour firefight in the coastal town of Glan Sunday night.

Army Maj. Julieto Ando, spokesman for the 6th Infantry Division, said the Special Forces troops recovered a Colt M-16 rifle, a caliber .357 revolver, portable two-way radios, medical supplies, a typewriter, and a pair of binoculars.

Ando said the rebels, led by top NPA commander Nicanor Pasun alias Ron-Ron, opened fire at soldiers patrolling in Barangay Mudan in Glan, triggering a shootout.

Barangay officials identified the slain rebels simply as Pugak and Randy.

Three wounded NPA rebels were said to have been taken by their colleagues when they fled as troops advanced.–AP, Ding Cervantes, Paolo Romero, Arnell Ozaeta, John Unson, Ric Sapnu