5 cops slain in ambush

FIVE police officers were killed and 10 wounded in an encounter with suspected New People’s Army rebels in Cagayan Valley early Tuesday.

The policemen were on their way to the barangay in response to reports of government equipment being torched by the rebels, Interior Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento told a television interview.

Reports said a firefight ensued after a bomb planted by the NPA exploded as the responding police arrived.   Jaymee T. Gamil