4 Army troops killed in Agusan del Sur ambush

Four Army troops, including an officer, were killed while three others were wounded when suspected communist rebels opened fire on a military convoy in the southern province of Agusan del Sur early Wednesday evening. At 6 p.m. Wednesday, two squads from the 26th Infantry Battalion with personnel from the 23rd IB and 4th Civil Military Operations Battalion were fired upon by 20 New People's Army rebels in Masayan village in Veruela town, said Major Ralph Cabangbang, spokesperson for the Armed Forces Eastern Mindanao Command. At the time of the ambush, Cabangbang said the troops, on board two military trucks, had just finished their civil-military work and were on their way to La Fortuna village. The fatalities were identified as: Lt. Isagani Villasis, Staff Sergeant Jose Balaba, Private First Class Alejandro Dao and Private Zen Stephen Cloma. Those wounded were Master Sergeant Fernandez, Staff Sergeant Edesio Escalante and Pfc Julius Bolotano. Cabangbang said a civilian, identified as one Rosegin Tamonan, was wounded in the crossfire and promptly taken to a local hospital for treatment. Pursuit operations are ongoing, Cabangbang said. The ambush came as the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, is about to mark its 41st founding anniversary on March 29. It also came at a time when the deadline for government forces to crush the communist insurgency by the time President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ends her term in June this year is fast approaching. - RSJ/LBG, GMANews.TV