4 soldiers, civilian hurt in landmine blast

LEGAZPI CITY – Four Army personnel and a civilian were wounded when the Isuzu Elf they were riding in struck a landmine in Masbate City last Monday, an Army report said.

Col. Ariel Bernardo, commanding officer of the 901st Infantry Brigade based in Daraga, Albay, said the Army vehicle just left the headquarters of the 9th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Bacolod to return a videoke machine used in their Christmas party when they stumbled upon the landmine.

Bernardo said the soldiers’ driver immediately rushed those wounded to the Masbate Doctors Hospital for treatment.

Last Saturday night, two suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels lobbed an explosive at the back of the police station in Placer, Masbate, damaging the kitchen ceiling and shattering the glass windows of the outpost and nearby government offices, too.

Authorities believe the NPA’s Jose Rapsing Command was behind the twin incidents as it marked the 40th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines last Dec. 26.

The NPA atrocities in Masbate and elsewhere in Mindanao occurred after the government’s two-day Christmas unilateral truce against the rebels had lapsed.

The government declared a suspension of military operations against the NPA on Dec. 24-26. A similar SOMO took effect last Tuesday until today.

The NPA also declared its own truce on Dec. 24-26 and on Dec. 31 to New Year’s Day, too.          – With Jaime Laude