Soldier on way to send bonus to family shot dead

NAGA CITY – A soldier on his way to withdraw his yearend bonus from the bank to send to his family in Camarines Sur was shot dead by still unidentified armed men in Sorsogon on Sunday morning, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said.

Corporal Zaldy Bengua, who belonged to the Philippine Army’s 9th Infantry Battalion, was shot dead by one of three suspected members of New People’s Army (NPA) in Barangay (village) San Antonio, Barcelona, Sorsogon around 7:45 a.m. Sunday, said Major Angelo Guzman, spokesman of the AFP Southern Luzon Command based in Lucena City.

Captain Mardjorie Panesa, public information officer of the 9th Infantry Division based in Pili, Camarines Sur, said Bengua, 32, a native of Pasacao, Camarines Sur, was assigned to a peace and development team of the 9th Infantry Battalion conducting community services in the area.

On his way to the Barcelona town center, he was on board a tricycle with another soldier and three civilian passengers when they were flagged down by the armed men.

Guzman said both Bengua and the other soldier, whose name he did not reveal for security reasons, were in civilian clothes but were armed with pistols.

He said Bengua was riding behind the tricycle driver and the other soldier was inside the sidecar with a mother and two small children.

Bengua, upon seeing that the NPAs were pointing guns at them, drew his pistol to fight back but was shot by the suspects, causing his immediate death, he said.

Guzman said the other soldier was spared from the attack after being mistaken as the father of the two children when he provided cover for the family. The rebels escaped the scene after the incident.

Panesa said Colonel Cesar Idio, commander of the 903rd Infantry Brigade, covering Sorsogon province, immediately launched pursuit operations against the rebels after the tricycle driver and its passegers reported the incident to the Barcelona Municipal Police Station.

She also said a team from the Philippine National Police’s Scene of the Crime Operatives was brought to the crime scene while forces from the 31st Infantry Battalion continued to pursue the perpetrators.

Panesa said the family of the slain soldier would receive appropriate assistance from the Philippine Army.

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