2 soldiers killed in Sarangani road blast

KORONADAL CITY – Two soldiers were killed when a cellphone-operated bomb hit their vehicle while they were escorting a group conducting an outreach mission for Muslim residents in Sarangani before dawn last Saturday.

Col. Edgardo de Leon, commander of the Army’s 73rd Infantry Battalion based in Maasim, Sarangani, said the incident left soldiers deployed in the towns of Maasim, Kiamba and Maitum “angry and saddened.”

“I explained to them that want happened was part of the risks of being a soldier and in carrying out their duties to civilian communities. They listened to me,” De Leon said.

Killed on the spot were Pfcs. Junty Gustillo and Rommel Dalayap.

De Leon said the two soldiers were escorting three vehicles going to the villages of Pananag and Daliao in Maasim town to conduct a civic outreach program for Muslim residents there.

De Leon said an improvised explosive device planted on the roadside went off as the soldiers passed through Barangay Daliao on their way back to their camp in Maasim town.

The driver of the slain soldiers survived the explosion.

“We just wanted to bring the military troops closer to the Muslim residents there. We really never expect that it would happen,” De Leon said.

Despite the incident, De Leon thanked the Muslim community in Maasim for their support to the Army-initiated peace and development programs. – With Edith Regalado