Military denies sniper hit US personnel

ZAMBOANGA CITY – The military denied reports that a US personnel was hit by a sniper fire in Marawi City. Brigadier General Restituto Padilla, the military spokesperson, said he was not aware of any incident involving one of the American personnel providing technical assistance to Filipino soldiers in Marawi. “If they were hit, we would have known immediately,” Padilla said. “There were instances of sniper fire reaching areas of the camp (Campo Ranao) but the US personnel providing technical assistance were in safe areas that could not be easily seen from any of the enemy’s possible vantage points.” As early as two weeks ago, the Inquirer already received similar reports of US personnel hit by sniper fire. Lieutenant General Carlito Galvez Jr.,  the commander of the Western Mindanao Command,  dismissed it as a “non issue.”  GAL