Rookie cop dies as NPA rebels attack police outpost in Davao Oriental

TAGUM CITY — A rookie policeman was killed when communist rebels stormed a police outpost in a mining village in Tarragona, Davao Oriental, early Friday, police said.

Supt. Antonio Rivera, Southern Mindanao police spokesperson, identified the fatality as PO1 Andrio Jose Linao.

Rivera said an undetermined number of New People’s Army (NPA) rebels attacked the detachment of the 3rd platoon of the Davao Oriental provincial public safety company (DOPPSC) on Terminal Site in Sitio (Sub-village) Bangol, Tubaon village around 4:30 a.m.

“The attack killed (Linao),” Rivera told Inquirer by text message, without giving any details as to whether there were casualties on the NPA side.

A joint force made up of police and army units from the Scout Rangers, the 28th Infantry Battalion, Division Recon Company as well as from the 701st Infantry Brigade were now conducting combat operations against the attackers, said Rivera.

Meanwhile, three alleged NPA rebels surrendered to soldiers in Monkayo, Compostela Valley province, the military said Friday.

Jessie, Jefred and Jonathan, all surnamed Conseng, “voluntarily turned themselves to soldiers of the 28th Infantry Battalion in Poblacion village around 8 a.m.Thursday, said Capt. Alberto Caber, the spokesperson of the military’s Eastern Mindanao Command.

“According to the three former rebels, they wanted to embrace peace, live a normal live with their loved ones and avail of the programs of the government (intended for former rebels),” Caber said in a statement.