THE Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (Opapru) has extended financial assistance to the seven soldiers who were wounded in a recent ambush in Basilan province.
Brigadier General Alvin Luzon, 101st Infantry Brigade commander, handed over the financial assistance from Opapru to the wounded soldiers when he visited them the other day in the hospital.
Luzon did not mention as to how much financial assistance each of the seven wounded soldiers received fromĀ Opapru.
The seven soldiers, who belong to the 64th Infantry Battalion, where wounded when 10 rouge members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) ambushed them in Ulitan village, Ungakaya Pukan, Basilan province on August 12.
A soldier and a policeman were killed during the incident in Ulitan village.
The soldiers and policemen were accompanying Ungkaya Pukan Vice Mayor Ahmadin Barahim and the members of the Joint Peace and Security Team when they were ambushed.
At the time of the incident, the group of Barahim was conducting an inspection in Ulitan village in preparation for the conduct of medical and denetal civic action in the area.
Two of the 10 suspects in the ambush have surrendered to Luzon at Camp Luis Biel II that houses the headquarters of the 101st Infantry Brigade in Tabiawan village, Isabela City, the capital of Basilan province.
The JPST is a peacekeeping force composed of soldiers, policemen and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members in Mindanao.
The JPSTs were set up as part of the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro between the Philippine government and the MILF.
The JPSTs are tasked to oversee the Bangsamoro peace process and the overall security of Mindanao. They were established as part of the decommission process of active MILF combatants. (SunStar Zamboanga)