DILG chief warns rebels: We will come after you

MANILA, Philippines - Interior Secretary Mar Roxas yesterday warned communist rebels suspected of killing a policeman and eight civilians in Negros Occidental that they would be chased down by the entire national police.

“You hit one of us, you hit all of us and we will all come after you,” Roxas said after suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA) ambushed and killed nine people in La Castellana, Negros Occidental last Sunday.

Roxas ordered Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Alan Purisima to go after the suspects that ambushed the group of Police Officer 1 Richard Canja of the La Castellana police station.

The others slain were barangay councilmen Lito Lucban, Teotimo Espleguera, and Mario Ricablanca; barangay tanods Ulysses Camayor, Jonathan Mateo, and Ramil Trompeta who were members of the barangay peacekeeping action team (BPAT) assigned at Barangay Cabacungan police outpost; driver Ricky Dingcong, and civilian Virginia Ordonez.

The wounded victims included police officers PO2 Jeffrey Alvarez and PO3 Constantino Villegas, and civilians Roger Behar, Jerry Lacuedo, Jamil Roma, Jason Oximar, Bonifacio Bayate, Cristituto Perolino, and Victoriano Donasco. 

Investigators said the victims were on board a Fuso Canter truck, driven by Dingcong, when the suspects ambushed them at around 3:45 a.m. in Barangay Puso, La Castellana.

Police said the victims were on their way home to La Castellana town proper after securing the fiesta celebration in Barangay Puso.

Roxas, the guest speaker at the celebration yesterday of the 22nd PNP founding anniversary in Camp Crame, Quezon City, said like the ambush in Negros Occidental, “every single one of you (policemen) throughout the country, everyday when you put on your uniforms you become an immediate target.”

Purisima directed Western Visayas police director Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. to intensify the campaign against NPA rebels in the area and assist the family of Canja.

Roxas noted that Canja’s companions, PO3 Villegas and PO2 Alvarez, courageously returned fire.

“They did as best as they could but were overwhelmed by the superior force of the attackers. They were mercilessly, brutally, ruthlessly attacked by what early reports say were NPA armed men,” Roxas added.

Roxas said that although policemen are an immediate target, the law enforcers could use integrity and dedication to service as the best shield against these “evil forces” in society.

Senior Superintendent Celestino Guara, officer-in-charge of the Negros Occidental Provincial Police Office, said Villegas and Alvarez claimed they were able to fire back but their firearms malfunctioned.

Guara said La Castellana is a mountainous area and infested with NPA.

He said the two wounded policemen were already out of danger.

Director Lina Sarmiento, chief of the Directorate for Police Community Relations (DPCR), said the PNP would provide financial assistance to the families of the slain and wounded policemen.