2 soldiers guarding PCOS machines wounded in CamSur clash

NAGA CITY, Philippines–Two Army soldiers, who were part of a unit guarding voting machines, were wounded after their group clashed with an undetermined number of suspected communist rebels in Ragay, Camarines Sur early Thursday, an Army spokesman said.

Major Angelo S. Guzman, spokesman of 9th Infantry Division, Philippine Army based in Pili, Camarines Sur, confirmed that Private First Class Bryan Ciyas was shot in the right arm while another soldier, who has yet to be identified, suffered minor shrapnel wounds in the left arm in the firefight near a public school in Barangay (village) Agao-ao at 4:15 a.m.

Guzman said that the Army unit under the 49th Infantry Brigade was guarding a batch of precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines that had recently arrived in the public school when they encountered the suspected members of the New People’s Army.