ILOILO CITY – A policeman and barangay official were injured in a landmine attack by the New People’s Army in Barangay Pugahan, Lambunao, Iloilo Friday.
A spot report from the Lambunao Municipal Police Station identified the victims as Police Master Sgt. Christopher Losbañes and Barangay Pugahan Councilor Larry Ajeno.
They were onboard a police patrol vehicle when an improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated by the NPA at 9:45 a.m.
The vehicle skidded off the unpaved road and fell into an irrigation canal.
Police Col. Gilbert Gorero, chief of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO), said the victims were on their way to Barangay Panuran in Lambunao to conduct a follow-up investigation of the March 11 encounter between the Philippine Army 12th Infantry Battalion and the NPA.
Last March 3, the NPA also detonated an IED in Barangay Panuran while police were conducting a road clearing operation for the scheduled inauguration of an agro forestry support facility in a neighboring barangay. No cops were injured but the NPA publicly acknowledged they were behind the attack.