MOURNING President Duterte extends his sympathies to a relative of one of four policemen slain in a July 18 ambush by communist rebels in Negros Oriental province. The President visited the lawmen’s wake at Camp. Lt. Col. Francisco C. Fernandez Jr. in Sibulan town on Saturday. —MALACAÑANG PHOTO
President Duterte has offered a P1-million reward for the arrest of suspected communist rebels behind the ambush of four policemen in Ayungon town, Negros Oriental province, last week.
Malacañang announced the bounty on Sunday after the President visited the wake of the policemen on Sunday night.
“According to the Chief Executive, a P1-million reward will be given for the capture, whether dead or alive, of the masterminds, perpetrators and main shooters of the four police intelligence personnel,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.
He said a P50,000 reward would be given “for the capture of all the conspirators involved in this felonious activity.”
Posthumous award
The Palace made the announcement after the President visited the wake of Cpl. Relebert Beronio and Patrolmen Raffy Callao, Ruel Cabellon and Marquino de Leon, and posthumously conferred on them the Order of Lapu-Lapu.
The Order of Lapu-Lapu is conferred on those who have rendered extraordinary service or have made exceptional contributions to the success of the President’s campaign or advocacy. The four policemen received the Kalasag medal, which is awarded to those who lost their lives as a result of their participation in an activity pursuant to a campaign or advocacy of the President.
‘Treacherous’
The slain policemen were intelligence officers of the 704th Mobile Force Company under the Regional Mobile Force Battalion in Central Visayas.
They were verifying reports that New People’s Army (NPA) rebels were seen in Barangay Mabato when they were ambushed at Sitio Yamot on Thursday last week.
Their firearms and motorcycles were seized by the rebels, police said.
After visiting the wake, the President convened a joint command conference of the military and the police to discuss developments on the investigation of the attack.
Panelo extended the Palace’s condolences to the families of the slain policemen as he condemned, “in the strongest terms, their treacherous slaying.”
“We will ensure that justice will be served to those behind this condemnable offense against our peace enforcers. The full force of the law will come crushing down on the perpetrators,” he said.
We will ensure that justice will be served to those behind this condemnable offense against our peace enforcers
Salvador Panelo
Presidential spokesperson
Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas, Central Visayas police director, said the four policemen were captured by the rebels, hogtied and “summarily executed.”
Each, he said, was shot in the head, while one of them had a slashed throat.
Aid for dependents
The ambush took place five days after Joseph Pacheco, said to be an NPA squad leader, was slain in a clash with Army soldiers belonging to the 62nd Infantry Battalion in Ayungon.
Dependents of the slain policemen will receive P250,000 in financial assistance from the government and other benefits through the Comprehensive Social Benefit Program.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government, one of the participating agencies of the program, will provide employment to widows and other dependents.
The Department of Trade and Industry and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority will provide skills training, while the Department of Health will extend medical assistance.
Qualified beneficiaries who completed skills training will receive the second tranche of financial assistance worth P250,000.
In addition, the National Housing Authority will extend shelter assistance, while the Commission on Higher Education, the National Police Commission and the Armed Forces of the Philippines will also provide scholarships to dependents of soldiers and policemen killed in combat. —With a report from Carla Gomez