3 soldiers slain in Davao ambush

DAVAO CITY, Philippines  – At least three soldiers were killed when suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels ambushed them yesterday morning in Tagum City, Davao del Norte.

The slain soldiers, whose identities have been withheld by the local Army command here, reportedly belonged to the Army’s Special Forces battalion assigned in the northern part of the region.

The guerrillas were reportedly led by a certain “Ka Wendel” operating in Davao del Norte and the adjacent provinces of Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental.

Two of the soldiers reportedly died on the spot while the third victim died while being resuscitated at the Davao Regional Hospital in Tagum City.

The soldiers were reportedly on a “peace and development” mission in Barangay Magdum when they were waylaid.

The ambush took place just a few days after the cessation of hostilities during the holidays between government and rebel forces was lifted.

Meanwhile in Masinloc, Zambales, an Army company leader was wounded in a recent firefight with communist rebels belonging to the Rebolusyonaryong Hukbong Bayan (RHB). 

 In a belated report, the Armed Forces’ Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) said 1Lt. McLloyd Latris led a unit of the Alpha Company of the Army’s 24th Infantry Battalion, which encountered the RHB rebels while patrolling Barangay Sto. Rosario in Masinloc town.

Latris’ group was responding to reports that armed men were going from house to house to collect “revolutionary taxes.”

“It did not take long for the soldiers to spot the rebels who immediately opened fire,” the Nolcom said.

The rebels were reportedly overpowered by the soldiers and fled with many of them wounded, the Nolcom said.

The RHB, according to the Nolcom, is the armed group of the underground Marxist-Leninist Party of the Philippines (MLPP), which broke ties with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) in the 1980s.

“The MLPP rivals the CPP in extortion and other criminal activities in Pampanga and other parts of Central Luzon,” Nolcom spokesman Maj. Rosendo Armas said.

“Roadblocks and checkpoints are now in place. Elements of the 24th IB are still conducting pursuit operations,” Armas said. – With Jaime Laude and Ding Cervantes