CAMP RUPERTO KANGLEON, Palo, Leyte – A police officer and a teenage girl were killed while four others – another law enforcer and three minors – were wounded in a firefight that ensued when a female communist rebel attacked the slain cop during a benefit dance in Pinabacdao, Samar last Wednesday night.
Senior Superintendent Lito Bigoy, Samar deputy police director and concurrent officer-in-charge, identified the fatalities as PO2 Ramil Ladrera and 19-year-old Analiza Solano, and those wounded as SPO2 Quirino Espino, Anchita Solana, 15; Gernin Mantais, 14; and Eldiko Nardo, 17.
Bigoy said a seven-man mobile patrol team of the Pinabacdao police was securing the fiesta benefit dance when Ladrera was shot dead, forcing his colleagues to shoot it out with rebels positioned outside the dancing area as the villagers scampered for safety. The firefight lasted for 20 minutes.
Chief Superintendent Abner Cabalquinto, Eastern Visayas police director, has placed police units in the region on full alert to thwart any NPA attacks as part of the Communist Party of the Philippines’ 39th anniversary on Dec. 26.
“We have to maximize the alertness of our troops in the field,” he said.