Cop killed, another hurt in Aurora ambush

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels ambushed a group of policemen who were responding to an arson complaint in Aurora province on Tuesday (Oct. 16), killing a police officer and wounding another, according to a report from the Central Luzon police in Camp Olivas here.

Chief Supt. Amador Corpus, regional police director, on Wednesday condemned the “act of terrorism,”  pointing out that the rebels  attacked policemen from Maria Aurora town and the First Provincial Mobile Force Company who “responded to a call of duty” in Maria Aurora’s Barangay (village) Villa.

Police Officer 2 Martial Ronald Buendicho Ruidera, whom Corpus describes as a “dedicated police officer, a great person and father,” was killed in the ambush that wounded Senior Police Officer 2 Angelo Nobleza Gawat, chief investigator of the Maria Aurora police.

As of posting, no NPA unit has owned up to the ambush which was carried out at 2:30 p.m. in Sitio (subvillage) Dipawan.

According to police, a report was received at 5:30 a.m. that armed men torched a heavy equipment owned by a private contractor tasked to build a road. Days earlier, a firefight broke out in the area between Army soldiers and rebels.

In 2016, the military declared Aurora as insurgent-free however sporadic rebel sightings and encounters between rebels and soldiers have been recorded in the province. /muf