3 wounded in rebel ambush in Negros

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – A junior Army officer, an enlisted man and a civilian were wounded in an ambush by New People’s Army rebels late Friday afternoon while the soldiers were visiting a retired soldier on the outskirts of Sipalay City in Negros Occidental.

Second Lieutenant Rigor Borja and Corporal Juanito Fernando, both members of the 47th Infantry Battalion Peace and Development Team, were shot by two members of the New People’s Army, one of them a young woman, in Barangay (village) Camindangan, Sipalay about 5:35 p.m., an Army officer said.

Borja was hit in the back, while Fernando suffered a gunshot wound in the leg but managed to return fire and hit the female rebel, said Lt. Rey Balibagoso, 47th IB civil military operations officer.

Roderick Samolde, a civilian, was hit by a stray bullet in the buttocks, Balibagoso said.

The injured female rebel was rescued by her companion and three other rebels who served as their back-up. They fled toward the Camindangan public market, before Army soldiers arrived.

The two injured soldiers and the civilian were taken to the Candoni Emergency Hospital and transferred later to another hospital in Kabankalan City, where they were reported in stable condition.

Balibagoso condemned the incident and said the violent action of the NPA Special Partisan Unit was a “clear violation of human rights because they do not consider the safety of civilians.”