By Glazyl Masculino
BACOLOD CITY - The Leonardo Panaligan Command of the New People's Army (LPC-NPA) Central Negros Guerrilla Front admitted being behind the staging of an ambush of troops from the Army’s 94th Infantry Battalion (IB) at Barangay Luz, Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental on March 3.
New People's Army (MANILA BULLETIN)
According to LPC-NPA Deputy Spokesperson Ka Ann Jacinto, 10 troops were on board an army truck when an NPA unit opened fire at them.
Jacinto, in a press statement, said that the state forces suffered two fatalities and four wounded soldiers,while two others fled and another soldier was missing.
"The NPA unit no longer pursued the ambushed soldiers because they were nearing a populated area and civilians might be harmed," she added.
She said that their military action was in response to orders of their Regional Operational Command to launch tactical offensives against massive militarization and killings in the countryside.
The Army reported on Wednesday that there were no fatalities on their side, but four soldiers were wounded in the attack when an improvised explosive device exploded, followed by a 10-minute firefight.
Meanwhile, Jacinto condemned the alleged torture of two captured NPA members by the 94th IB.
Last February, two members of the Special Partisan Unit (Sparu) of NPA were allegedly killed in an encounter with the Philippine Army at Barangay Binobohan.
But Jacinto clarified that the two guerrilla fighters were captured after the encounter and did not actually resist arrest.
"Nonetheless, they were brutally tortured before they were killed since they did not give any information against their comrades to the soldiers," she said.
She said that despite the government’s reactionary movement, the people will continue to wage a revolutionary armed struggle until social justice is achieved.