Cop killed, 1 wounded in clash with armed men in Legazpi City village

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines—-A policeman has died of his bullet wounds while another cop was wounded after two teams of cops on security patrol clashed with an undetermined number of armed men in an upland village in this city Tuesday morning.

Senior Superintendent Marlo Meneses, Albay provincial police director, said the community of Purok 5 in Sitio San Jose, Barangay Maslog, Legazpi City, was celebrating its fiesta when the clash occurred around  9:15 a.m.

He said Police Officer 3 Rene Balaguer was killed while Police Officer 2 Ronald Bondad was wounded in the 45-minute firefight that ensued.

Meneses said the two teams of the Albay Provincial Public Safety Company on security patrol were led by Senior Police Officer 4 Alfredo Bolaños and Senior Police Officer 1 Perfecto Rojas.

“We cannot yet say if the armed men are members of the New People’s Army,” Meneses said.

Balaguer and Bondad were both taken to the Aquinas Hospital in this city for treatment. Meneses said Balaguer was dead on arrival in the hospital.

Meneses said the armed group was positioned at a vantage point when they fired at the police patrol teams but the policemen were able to retaliate.

The armed men fled the scene after the arrival of police reinforcements.

Originally posted: 2:38 PM | Tuesday, May 19th, 2015