PNP condemns NPA attack on Davao del Sur cops

MANILA, Philippines —  The Philippine National Police on Wednesday condemned a New People's Army attack on a team of police officers in Davao del Sur.

 

"The trademark of ruthless treachery, patented by the [Communist Party of the Philippines]-NPA, has reared its ugly head again in this latest attack against a non-tactical police team of laboratory technicians and technical specialists," Senior Superintendent Dionardo Carlos, PNP spokesperson, said in a statement.

 

He added that the officers, by the nature of their specializations, were noncombatants.

 

The communist rebels allegedly killed four police personnel in an ambush early Wednesday in the outskirts of Bansalan, Davao del Sur.

 

The fatalities, PO1 Rolly Benelayo, PO1 Joey Narvaza, PO1 Saro Mangutara, and PO3 Jayden May Rabor, died on the spot from multiple bullet wounds.

 

They were on their way to  the scene of a shooting incident somewhere in Barangay Sibayan in Bansalan town when some 20 NPA guerrillas emerged from one side of the road and shot their vehicle with assault rifles.

 

Benelayo, Narvaza and Mangutara belonged to the Bansalan municipal police while Rabor was from the Davao del Sur provincial crime laboratory. She had merely been tasked to help examine the crime scene in Barangay Sibayan.

 

The attack also left their companion, PO3 Allen Amado, wounded. He is now being treated in a hospital.

 

Combined personnel of the Army’s 39th and 73rd infantry battalions and local members of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit launched pursuit operations after the ambush.

 

The NPAs were last seen fleeing towards the hinterland border of Davao del Sur and North Cotabato provinces.  

 

Senior members of the Bansalan municipal peace and order council have confirmed that there had been a shooting incident in a secluded area in Barangay Sibayan that resulted in the deaths of two villagers on Wednesday morning.

 

The first team of responding policemen dispatched to the scene arrived at the crime scene safely.

 

The slain police officers were in a separate vehicle that followed about an hour later.

 

Army sources said there is a possibility that the rebels were just passing by and immediately opened fire when they noticed an approaching police pickup truck maneuvering through the farm-to-market road leading to an interior area in Barangay Sibayan. — with Kristian Javier