AN ARMY trooper and two members of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (Cafgu) were killed while six others were injured after they were waylaid by alleged members of the New People’s Army (NPA) near their detachment in Barangay 4, Jipapad, Eastern Samar Wednesday morning, July 7, 2021.
In an initial report, the government troops were more or less seventy meters away from reaching the detachment when three landmines blasted simultaneously.
A firefight then ensued between personnel of the 52nd Infantry Battalion and some 30 suspected rebels that lasted for 20 minutes.
Killed were Army Technical Sergeant Junar Carpila and Cafgu member Mark Donald Lomuntad and Geremias Etcobañas.
The six other wounded Cafgu members were identified as Edwin Adamero, Francis Legarse, Manny Maestre, Ronilo Porton, Jeffrey Pajanustan and Helbert Pajanustan.
They were rushed to a nearby hospital for medical attention.
The military also reported an undetermined number of injuries or casualties on the enemy's side.
Major General Pio Diñoso III, 8ID commander, condemned the attack and the use of anti-personnel mines, saying it was “a desperate act of these terrorists as the campaign to defeat them has reached an irreversible stage.”
“With their backs against the wall, it is expected they will resort to their old barbaric ways. However, I assure the people in Eastern Visayas that the whole-of-nation approach to end communist insurgency is very effective and on track,” the army official said.
“Let this small setback strengthen our resolve to finally put an end to the NPA and make the region attain the just and lasting peace it aspires. With that, our soldiers' ultimate sacrifices will not be in vain,” added Diñoso in a statement.
Eastern Visayas remained a hotbed of insurgency with the continued presence of the NPA, who has been waging a Maoist-inspired guerrilla war since the late 1960s. (SunStar Philippines)