Misencounter: Army Fired at Us – Claim Survivor-Cop, and NPA Commander

BACOLOD CITY - Members of the Guihulngan police who rushed to the aid of their colleagues trapped in an ambush by the New People’s Army (NPA) in the Negros Oriental town appeared to have been victims of a misencounter with Army troops of the 66th IB PA.

Edgar A. Cadagat/Karl G. Ombion
By Bulatlat.com/Cobra-ans

Killed in the first mid-afternoon ambush last Tuesday, around 3 p.m. in sitio Matuog, Barangay Basak, just a few kilometers from Guihulngan proper, were Vallehermoso police chief, Chief Insp. Leopito Gallego and his driver, PO3 Cipriano Saludes. Another Vallehermoso cop, SPO1 Cielo Copta, was wounded.

The three were on their way to file a case at the regional trial court in Guihulngan when they met heavy gunfire by NPA guerrillas who were positioned on cliffs overlooking the winding seaside highway.

This was the claim of PO3 Rizaldy Delara, a member  of the Guihulngan police force who called it a case of “mistaken identity.” Delara, interviewed by Aksyon Radyo reporter Babes Gantalao, said the Guihulngan policemen were on their way to aid their Vallehermoso colleagues but were forced to retreat seaward and commandeered a motorized banca they hoped to use in retreating from the area.

According to Delara, on learning of the ambush, an eight-man team rushed to the ambush site, half hitching a ride on a passing passenger bus, the rest, with the chief of police, onboard a government dump truck. However, just around 200 meters from where the first ambush occurred, the truck was fired on by an NPA blocking force.

As the policemen onboard the bus jumped off and provided cover fire, other policemen retreated to the seashore opposite the highway where they found the banca beached among mangroves.

However, as they were taking off on board the boat, Delara said a civilian spotted them and, unaware that they were policemen, shouted a warning to the Army troopers, who had just arrived, that there were armed men in the mangroves trying to escape.

This, said Delara, triggered the misencounter.

Supt. Ricardo dela Paz, San Carlos City police chief, said the bodies of SPO3 Jaime Provitsado and PO3 Modesto Lagusad were fished out Tuesday from the waters off the coast of Guihulngan. San Carlos is just across the border from Vallehermoso in Negros Occidental.

The police jeep they were riding flipped upside apparently from a direct hit from a rifle grenade.

Vallehermoso and Guihulngan are adjacent to each other.

Delara’s claim was boasted when Ka Boyet Maguilas, spokesman of the Leonardo Panaligan Command of the Front 1, confirmed in a cellfone interview aired over Radio Agong and Aksyon Radio that the Guihulngan policemen – among them Delarma – who went to reinforce the beleaguered Vallehermoso police were not their targets. They were only delayed by the NPA blocking force while the ambush was being carried out against the team of Gallego.

When the reinforcing 66 IB troopers arrived the blocking site, they mistaken the Guihulngan police forces who were already hiding around the perimeter area and fired at them.  It was the 66 IB troopers who wiped out the Guihulngan police forces, not us, said Ka Boyet.

No one in the Guihulngan police force is in our Order of Battle. That is because they have no crimes against our people, and in fact they have always been reluctant to participate in the army’s anti-insurgency campaign and just want to concentrate on civilian functions, Ka Boyet added.

As to the missing body of Guihulngan police chief, they should rather search for it in the compound of the 66 IB headquarter. They were the last reinforcing team in the battle scene when we left.  They are they ones having animosities with the army, hinted Ka Boyet.

When asked his reactions to the GMA’s all out war, Ka Boyet said, “This is our response to GMA’s all out total war, and the popular clamor of the masses to carry out revolutionary justice against those who have committed crimes against the people. We have demonstrated that with our series of tactical offensives”.

We just want to inform the public and PNP that not all PNP are targets of our actions, only those who have anti-social activities and crimes against the people, and those who work for the anti-people anti-revolutionary politicians, warlords, like Cojuangco, Mayor Villegas, Congressman Jing Paras, Ka Boyet warned.

303rd Infantry Brigade chief, Col. Alphonsus Crucero, asked over the claim of Delara, refused to comment, saying “it would be better to ask (Negros Oriental provincial director, Senior Supt. Bulado) about the claim of one of his policemen.”

The usually fiery Crucero said they could not investigate the claim of Delara that elements of the 66th IB could have been responsible for the death of several policemen. Lt. Col. Rolando Picar, commanding officer of the 66th IB, on the other hand, could not be reached for comment also yesterday. Bulatlat.com

We want to know what you think of this article.