AFP: Rebels scampered toward botanist's location

MANILA, Philippines - Army troops and communist rebels were engaged in a firefight when noted botanist Leonardo Co was killed last Nov. 15 in Kananga, Leyte, the military said yesterday.

Lt. Gen. Ralph Villanueva, Armed Forces Central Command (Centcom) chief, said initial investigation showed that New People’s Army (NPA) rebels scampered toward the location of Co and his two assistants during the clash.

“What we can say is based on the evidence obtained by the police and the military, there was really a firefight. But the PNP (Philippine National Police) and the military are still determining what happened to Dr. Co,” Villanueva said in an interview.

Maj. Christopher Tampos, Centcom spokesman, said initial findings of the board of inquiry of the Army’s 8th Infantry Division showed that soldiers did not fire the first shot.

“There was a firefight. Based on the results (of the investigation), the first volley of fire did not come from the side of the Army because they were observing. While observing, they were fired at and they retaliated,” Tampos said in Filipino. 

He, however, clarified that the findings are just partial since they have yet to get the statements of the survivors.

Co was reportedly killed in a crossfire between soldiers of the Army’s 19th Infantry Battalion and NPA rebels in Kananga town. 

Also killed were Co’s local guide Julius Borromeo and Sofronio Cortez, a forest guard of the Lopez-owned Energy Development Corp. with which the botanist was working as a consultant.

Some sectors, however, suspect that the three were shot after soldiers mistook them for NPA members.

Meanwhile, the military welcomed the Justice department’s move to create a fact-finding team that will look into the circumstances surrounding Co’s death.