Surigao Sur town police chief killed in clash with NPA

The police chief of a town in Surigao del Sur was killed on Saturday in a clash with suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA), the Philippine National Police (PNP) reported. Police Inspector Christopher Mazo, Lianga town police chief, was killed in an encounter with suspected communist rebels in Barangay Danao in the said town at 1 p.m. Saturday, PNP spokesperson Senior Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. said in a text message. Cruz said Mazo and a joint military-police force were on their way back to the police station in Lianga town after escorting Department of Environment and Natural Resources officials in an inspection of seized logs when the encounter took place. Mazo was shot in the head and was declared dead upon reaching the Lianga Hospital, the PNP spokesperson added. He likewise said that the suspected NPA rebels involved in the firefight may have been the owners of the seized logs. An undetermined number of NPA rebels were also killed in the clash, according to Cruz.—Andreo C. Calonzo/JV, GMANews.TV