MANILA, Philippines - The New People's Army (NPA) admitted that its members ambushed more than 100 policemen undergoing combat training in Mt. Province on Friday morning.
In a statement, NPA Mt. Province Provincial Operations Command spokesperson Magno Udyaw said their unit successfully ambushed troops of the Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) around 7:15 a.m. in Barangay Kabunagan, Tadian.
"The swift attack was conducted while the said troops, numbering more than a hundred including their trainors, were on bivouac towards Abatan, Bauko (in Mt. Province)," Ugnaw said in the statement.
In a television interview, Senior Superintendent Davy Vicente Limmong of the Cordillera Police said the ambush left one dead and nine others injured, who are currently in a hospital in Mt. Province. Udyaw provided the same figures.
Limoong identified the fatality as Police Officer 1 Denver Balabag while those hurt in the incident sustained "not so serious" injuries, the police officer said.
The wounded policemen were Police Inspector Bantas, PO1 Delnuan, PO1 Daketan, PO1 Ngalawen, PO1 Salve, PO1 Maludon, PO1 Benito and PO1 Sari.
Limoong said that the cops were unarmed during the NPA ambush.
"They were jogging, afterwhich, they were scheduled to eat their breakfast. We deplore the premeditated and treacherous act. The rebels should know that the persons they were attacking are their co-residents in the Cordillera region,†he said.
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Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas condemned the attack, adding that it was "shocking" and "senseless" because the policemen were unarmed.
"This makes the attack more shocking and senseless since it was carried out without any provocation,†Roxas said.
Udyaw, however, claimed that the ambushed cops were fully armed, as the communist rebels also seized 14 high powered rifles.
He added that the NPA withdrew without casualties and released a number of captured PNP combatants.
Initial reports said that at least 24 police trainees went missing after being taken hostage by the rebels.
Udyaw further alleged that the RPSB, to which the ambushed cops belong to, is a special unit of the PNP "presently trained to focus in counter-insurgency and urban warfare tactics, according to documents seized in previous armed engagements." with Dennis Carcamo