1 killed, 2 hurt in Agusan PNP-Army misencounter

BUTUAN CITY — A government trooper was killed while another soldier and a cop were wounded in a “misencounter" between policemen and members of the Philippine Army’s 75th Infantry Battalion last Friday, a military spokesman said on Saturday. Major Eugenio Osias IV, spokesperson for the Army’s 4th Infantry Division based in Cagayan De Oro City, told GMA News Online in a text message that the clash between a Philippine National Police (PNP) rescue team and patrolling soldiers occurred in Purok Alimo-ot, Barangay Kogonon, Trento, Agusan del Sur. Osias did not identify the killed soldier, whose family and close relatives have not been informed of the incident. Also, Osias did not divulge the names of the wounded soldier and the policeman. Meanwhile, Caraga Police Regional Director Chief Supt. Reynaldo S. Rafal confirmed the misencounter last Friday, adding that a thorough investigation into the incident is ongoing. He said the police team from the Caraga Region Police Office was on a mission to rescue PO3 George Sabatin, a member of Trento Police Office who was kidnapped by the New People’s Army (NPA) last week. Sabatin who was wounded in an NPA attack on a forest-product checkpoint in Trento’s Barangay Pulang Lupa, Rafal said. The rebels allegedly took Sabatin with them to be used as human shield against responding PNP operatives. An earlier police report said at least 70 fully-armed NPA rebels attacked the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-Local Government Unit (LGU) checkpoint in Barangay Pulang Lupa last week, killing two civilians and wounding Sabatin. — Ben Serrano/LBG, GMA News