2 cops hurt in Albay ambush

LEGAZPI CITY –– Two police officers were wounded in an ambush staged by still unidentified assailants in Manito town in Albay on Monday morning.

Police Captain Dexter Panganiban, Albay police information officer, identified the victims as Police Staff Sergeants Roger Dajac and Melchor Buban, who sustained minor injuries.

Panganiban said while the personnel of the Manito police were on board a police mobile patrol vehicle traversing Barangay (village) Cawayan at about 10:05 a.m., three improvised explosive devices (IED) exploded, followed by blasts from an M2O3 grenade launcher.

Police officers returned fire and pulled out from the area, leaving the patrol jeep tilted on the highway.

Panganiban said the victims were bound for duty in a quarantine control point in Barangay Cabacongan, about three kilometers away from Cawayan.

He said the local police were still in identifying the perpetrators.