3 soldiers killed, 20 wounded in NPA ambush in Cotabato

COTABATO CITY — Three soldiers were killed yesterday morning while 20 others, including a young lieutenant, were seriously wounded after communist rebels ambushed the government troops in President Roxas town, North Cotabato.

The soldiers belonging to the Army’s 39th Infantry Battalion (IB) were on board two military trucks and on their way to Arakan, North Cotabato, when New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas attacked the convoy.

One of the military trucks hit a landmine planted by NPA rebels at the muddy portion of the highway at Barangay Ilustre. The rebels immediately opened fire at the military convoy.

In a related development a senior police officer was assassinated by suspected NPA guerrillas yesterday in Legazpi City, police said.

Maj. Lyndon Paniza, commanding officer of the 39th IB, said the fatalities were identified only as Dalamban, Balibaguso and Cabañero who all died of gunshot wounds in their heads and bodies.

Paniza, in a text message to reporters, said that 20 other troopers were wounded including a certain 2Lt. Nemesis.

The victims were rushed to several hospitals and clinics in Kidapawan City.

Fe Mendoza, liaison officer of the Arakan Valley District Hospital, said two of the wounded soldiers are in serious condition.

Paniza, citing initial feedback by local officials, said about 50 NPA rebels carried out the ambush.

“They (rebels) immediately withdrew towards a nearby forest,” Paniza said.

Paniza said the soldiers were on their way to Barangay Ilustre, a remote district at the border of Arakan and Antipas towns to verify the presence of NPA rebels that were allegedly extorting money from local farmers.

The NPA’s Front 72, which has more than 500 combatants, operates in Arakan and Antipas towns that are located at the foot of Mt. Apo.

“They were ambushed treacherously. They were outnumbered virtually,” Paniza said.

Meanwhile in Legazpi City in Albay, Chief Inspector Rolando Esguerra said Superintendent Narciso Guarin, deputy chief for personnel of the regional police headquarters, was shot dead inside his car by NPA assassins.

Guarin’s body was riddled with so many bullets his face was unrecognizable. His relatives said he had not received any death threat.

Investigators said Guarin was an intelligence expert and a former police chief of Legazpi City.

Police operatives were ordered to track down the suspects in the killing of Guarin.

Philippine National Police chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr. said the NPA attacks in North Cotabato and Albay and previous atrocities in Compostela Valley, Agusan and the Surigao provinces, indicate an escalation of offensive operations by the NPA rebels.

Razon reminded all police commanders to be more vigilant against possible NPA attacks.

“These guerrilla-type tactics of ambuscades and selective hits on targets of opportunity are trademarks of the only tactical capability of the NPA,” Razon said. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Edith Regalado, Jaime Laude, Roel Pareño, AP