Soldier, Cafgu member shot dead while attending Sorsogon fiesta

NAGA CITY, Philippines — A soldier and a member of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit in Bicol were shot dead by suspected members of the New People’s Army in the house of a barangay (village) official in Irosin, Sorsogon on Monday afternoon.

Lieutenant Colonel Medel M. Aguilar, acting spokesman of the Army’s 9th Infantry Division in Pili, Camarines Sur, said Staff Sergeant Arnold Porcalla and Cafgu member Oliver Delloson were shot dead inside the home of Barangay Captain Bernardo Lerio in Barangay Patag, Irosin at 3 p.m. Monday.

Aguilar said Lerio had invited Porcalla and Dellosa to join the celebration of the barangay fiesta but he believed Lerio did not know of the presence of the armed men.

“Otherwise, the barangay captain and maybe other people would warn our personnel,” he said.

The two victims sustained injuries from high powered firearms of still undetermined caliber, he added.

Porcalla was the commander of the Army’s Mapaso detachment under the 22nd Infantry Battalion, a Cafgu unit in Sorsogon.

Aguilar said they have already solicited help from Sorsogon police in the investigation of the incident.