4 troopers wounded in Albay rebel attack

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – Four Army troopers were wounded when suspected New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) in Pio Duran town in Albay yesterday morning.

Cpl. Ilalo Cester and PFCs Bernard Nimo, Joril Palacio and Noe Capistrano were taken to the Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital (BRTTH) for treatment,  according to Lt. Col. Perfecto Peñaredondo, chief of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Battalion (IB) based in Ligao City.

Peñaredondo said Cester suffered shrapnel wounds in the arms, Nimo in the leg, Capistrano in the jaw and leg and Palacio in the leg.

Palacio was discharged shortly after receiving treatment while the three others remained in the hospital for further observation.

Reports said that the troopers were patrolling in Barangay Rawis when the rebels ambushed them at past 5 a.m.

Peñaredondo said the troopers managed to return fire but the rebels set the IED off before fleeing toward the nearby town of Jovellar. 

Meanwhile, in Basilan, two soldiers were killed when a bomb believed planted by Abu Sayyaf bandits exploded at the boundary of Tipo-Tipo and Ungkaya Pukan towns last Friday. 

The attack, the second in two weeks, brought to three the number of soldiers killed in the area, authorities said.

Navy Capt. Roy Vincent Trinidad, deputy chief of Task Force Zambasulta, identified the fatalities as PFC Taib Asanji and Cpl. Archimedes Cuyno, both of the 64th IB.               

The troopers were part of a group tasked to secure the route traversed by the military convoy and civilian commuters, according to Ensign Chester Ian Ramos. – With Alexis Romero, Roel Pareño