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4 soldiers killed in NPA attack in Camarines Sur
05/30/2010 | 03:48 PM

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/192223/4-soldi...n-camarines-sur

(Updated 7:10 p.m.) Four Army soldiers, including a lieutenant, were killed while three others were wounded in an ambush staged by communist New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Camarines Sur province Sunday dawn, a military spokesman said.

Maj. Harold Cabunoc, spokesman of the Army’s 9th Infantry Division, said government troops recovered the body of the slain soldiers around 3 p.m. Sunday, or 12 hours after the ambush. The

The four, along with another one identified as Pfc. Bernard Vergara, were earlier reported missing in action after they were waylaid at San Francisco village in Presentacion town at around 3 a.m. while maneuvering a steep terrain. Vergara was found unscathed.

Slain in the ambush were 1Lt. Miguel Logronio Jr, a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) class of 2009; Cpl. Arturo Hernandez; Pfc Albert Jamera; and Pfc Edwin Britannico. They succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds and shrapnel wounds.

The five soldiers were part of a 12-man team from the 42nd Infantry Battalion that was dispatched Saturday night to pursue the band of NPA rebels that attacked an Army detachment at nearby Bicalen village where a soldier, Pfc. Alvin Arias, was killed.

Cabunoc said the detachment is tasked to provide security to “flagship infrastructure projects" of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the province.

Three of the eight soldiers who survived the ambush— Pfc. Jerry Magdasoc, Pfc. Carlos Codires, and Pfc. Ronnie Villaluna—were wounded.

Cabunoc said the responding soldiers led by 1Lt. Nonito Alcala found four unexploded landmines near the ambush site.

“The rebels were planning to wipe out any military vehicle that will pass by their ambush position. They have planted larger sized landmines near the road and any large truck can be blown to pieces by those mines," he said

Because of these attacks, 9th Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Ruperto Pabustan directed Army units in the Bicol Region to tighten security in President Arroyo’s flagship projects.

“The [communist rebels] dislike the implementation of development projects because they want the people to remain poor and illiterate to easily manipulate them," he said. - with Sopiha Dedace/KBK, GMANews.TV