Soldier killed, 2 hurt in NPA encounter

FORT MAGSAYSAY, Palayan City — A 30-man armed band of the communist New People’s Army ambushed Thursday a platoon of government troops in Aurora, killing a soldier and wounding two others in a broad daylight attack which the military said was a violation of the suspension of military operations agreement.

The military here said that the army troopers, led by Capt. Eufronio Villaluz, were on a routine security patrol in Sitio Salaksak, Barangay Ditumabo in San Luis, Aurora at around 3:30 pm Thursday when ambushed by the rebels.

The military, however, withheld the identity of the lone fatality pending positive identification by his relatives.

Major Rhoderick Parayno, spokesman of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division (7th ID) based here, identified the wounded as Corporals Panfilo Carpio and Danilo Patricio, both from the Army’s 70th Infantry Battalion.

The ambush came even as the NPA’s Melito Glor Command released Army Major Noel Buan last Friday which paved the way for new peace talks, aimed at ending 30 years of insurgency.

Aurora is one of 11 provinces where SOMO was declared by the government as part of confidence-building measure to facilitate the safe release of Buan whom the NPA held hostage after he was snatched while conducting a peace mission in Mt. Banahaw on July 1999.

The Arroyo government and the National Democratic Front agreed to resume peace negotiations on April 27, although they have yet to decide on the venue.

Earlier peace talks bogged down when the NDF withdrew in protest of the Senate’s ratification of the Visiting Forces Agreement with the US in May 1999.

Major General Ernesto Carolina, 7th ID commanding general, said that the ambush in San Luis was an unwelcome development in the ongoing peace talks.

"We are religiously implementing the SOMO to boost the peace talks with the NDF," Carolina said. He explained, however, that the military is still hopeful of a positive outcome of the peace talks, particularly in the light of Buan’s release.