Reds kill 4 unarmed soldiers in Albay

LEGAZPI CITY — New People’s Army (NPA) rebels shot dead four unarmed Army soldiers conducting dialogues with residents in a remote community about six kilometers from Ligao City last Saturday afternoon, the military said.

The fatalities were identified as Sgt. Bernabe Basilio, Cpl. Rodello Oberos, and Pfcs. Gil Toledo and Guillermo Ding Lasam, belonging to the Special Operations Team (SOT) of the Army’s 31st Infantry Battalion based in Sipocot, Camarines Sur.

Brig. Gen. Pedrito Magsino, commanding general of the 901st Infantry Brigade based in Daraga, Albay, said Basilio’s team was in Barangay Uma-Uma as part of their "social immersion" to look into the various problems of the community when some 20 rebels attacked them at about 3:30 p.m.

"The soldiers were not able to fight back because they were unarmed while conducting the survey," said Magsino.

After the killing, the rebels went to a house where the SOT men kept their firearms, carting away seven M-16 rifles, ammunition and the slain soldiers’ belongings.

Local leaders condemned the incident, saying it was a "treacherous attack" against soldiers who were out to help the villagers, mostly impoverished coconut farmers, improve their health and livelihood.

The attackers were reportedly led by a certain Glicernio Penia, alias Ka Choy, of the NPA’s Guerrilla Front 79.

Magsino has ordered units of the 22nd Infantry Battalion to pursue the attackers.

Two weeks ago, communist hit men gunned down two soldiers, both unarmed and in civilian clothes, while watching a cockfight in a makeshift arena in Barangay Villa Hermosa in Daraga, Albay.

Magsino said he has instructed his men to avoid places where they could be vulnerable targets of NPA hit men. — With Cet Dematera