Communist rebels own landmine attack in Capiz

Communist rebels have claimed responsibility for last week’s landmine attack on soldiers in Capiz.

A soldier died and four others, including two junior officers, were wounded after the New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas detonated a landmine and threw grenades at a military truck in Barangay (village) Switch in Tapaz town.

Another soldier, who was part of a reinforcement team, was wounded after their truck rammed a tree 3 kilometers from the ambush site.

In a statement dated August 29 and posted on the NPA website on Sunday, the Jose Percival Estocada Jr. Command said it also launched “harassment actions” against soldiers in the villages of Tacayan on August 23 and Acuña on August 28, both in Tapaz. There were no reported casualties in the attacks.

Guerrero claimed that the military’s continued stay in 11 villages in Tapaz and in Calinog town in Iloilo, was being opposed by the local villagers. He said that the soldiers were there “not for peace and development but war, not defense but the use of people as human shields.”

The Army’s 3rd Infantry Division earlier said the latest ambush was part of the NPA’s attempts to show that it still wielded influence in the countryside.

“They want to distract our attention and disrupt our focus because they are being constricted by our sustained operations,” Capt. Reylan Java, division spokesperson, said in an interview.

In Catanduanes, five policemen were wounded in an NPA ambush early Saturday in Barangay San Jose in Caramoran town, 70 km from the capital town of Virac.

Senior Supt. Lito Pitallano, provincial police director, identified the casualties as Insp. Rene Bea, 35, of Bacacay, Albay; and Police Officers 1 Rene Payungga, 29, of Layon, Legazpi City; Edcel Brutas, 24, of Fatima, Tabaco City; Rommel Cardel, 37, of Belmonte, San Andres; and William Bagasbas, 33, of Nabua, Camarines Sur.

Bea, who led the team, told the Inquirer that they were attacked at around 12:30 a.m., several hours after they responded to a shooting report involving a soldier in Barangay Milaviga. Reports from Nestor P. Burgos, Inquirer Visayas, and Fernan Gianan, Inquirer Southern Luzon