Soldier shot dead by NPA in Camarines Sur town–Army official

NAGA CITY—In the morning of Halloween, an Army soldier was shot dead while he was buying food supply for his fellow troops who were establishing an outpost in an interior village in Libmanan, Camarines Sur, an Army official said on Saturday.

Col. Joselito Pastrana, commander of the Philippine Army’s 42 Infantry Battalion of the 9th Infantry Division, identified the victim as Private First Class Edmol Caceres, a member of the Charlie Company operating in the Libmanan area.

Pastrana, in a telephone interview, said the shooting incident happened at about 9:40 a.m. in Barangay Pag-oring Nuevo, an interior village of Libmanan, while the soldier was at the store.

He could not give more details while the investigation he led was ongoing at past 1 p.m. but declared that New People’s Army was the main suspect in the killing of Caceres.

Supt. Jeff Araojo, Libmanan’s police chief, said they received the message from barangay officials in Pag-oring Nuevo right after the incident and immediately coordinated with the Army for the scene of the crime investigation.

Araojo said Caceres had already bought most of the food needed by the troops but he had to go back to a store at the village center to buy some condiments.

He said the soldier was dead on the spot but he could not give details until the investigation was completed. Juan Escandor Jr./RC

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Army man shot dead while buying food in Camarines Sur town