Three soldiers killed in Davao del Norte ambush

Three Army soldiers were killed by suspected members of the New People's Army in Davao del Norte on Thursday morning, three days after the 18-day truce between the government and the communist rebel group expired. Army spokesman Col. Antonio Parlade Jr. said the attack happened while the troops were preparing for a "peace and development" progam for villagers at around 5 a.m. in Barangay Magdum in Tagum City. The victims belonged to the 3rd Special Forces Battalion Operations of the Army's 10th Infantry Division. Their identities have been withheld, because their families have yet to be informed about the incident. The fatalities were aboard a motorcycle when fired upon by the rebels, said Lt. Col. Medel Aguilar, spokesman for the Army's 10 ID. The military condemned the attack because the soldiers were not even conducting a combat operation when it happened. First encounter On Tuesday, an NPA rebel was killed while a government militiaman was wounded following a clash in Barangay Mahanud in Matuguinao town, Samar province, the first reported clash between Army soldiers and NPA insurgents after the holiday truce. The ceasefire between the government and communist rebels, which began December 16, is the longest in 10 years. The government and the National Democratic Federation of the Philippines (NDFP), the umbrella organization to which the NPA belongs, reached an agreement about the truce during a meeting in Hong Kong in December. It was meant to be part of confidence-building measures for the upcoming informal peace talks in Norway this month and resumption of formal negotiations next month. The ceasefire, however, was marred by skirmishes between government forces and NPA rebels. Despite the "sporadic" skirmishes, government lead negotiator Alex Padilla still considered the ceasefire a sucess. In an earlier interview with GMANews.TV, Padilla said he would try to propose to the NDFP to observe more ceasefires in the future whenever the two panels would meet. The first formal talks between the two panels will start on February 15 and will end on February 21. Thursday's attack came a day after a ranking NPA commander, Tirso Alcantara, was arrested in Lucena City after fighting it out with government troops. He was shot by arresting officers and was brought to the Armed Forces of the Philippines Medical Center (formerly V. Luna Medical Center) in Quezon City for treatment. – VVP/RSJ, GMANews.TV