THE Police Regional Office-Negros Island Region (PRO-NIR) director told personnel of Guihulngan City Police Station in Negros Oriental to be more vigilant after the rebel ambush last Friday, July 21, that left six of their colleagues, including the station chief, dead and their three others injured.
On Saturday morning, PRO-NIR Director Edmund Gonzales met with the station personnel and reiterated to them that they should be guarded at all times.
The Guihulngan police station is temporarily headed by Superintendent Carlos Lacuesta Jr., deputy director for operations of Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office (Norppo).
All police stations in the region were on full alert even before the ambush happened.
Gonzales assured them of support from the higher command.
Before he came to the police station, Gonzales visited the three wounded policemen at the Silliman University Medical Center in Dumaguete City.
Gonzales conferred Senior Police Officer 4 Jerome Delara, Police Officer 3 Jordan Balderas, and Police Officer 2 Jorie Maribao the Philippine National Police (PNP) Wounded Personnel Medal.
They are now in stable condition.
The PRO-NIR director then visited the bereaved families of the six policemen at St. Peter Chapels in Guihulngan City on the same day.
He expressed his deepest sympathies to the families of Police Chief Superintendent Arnel Arpon, Senior Police Officer 2 Mecasio Tabilon, Senior Police Officer 2 Chavic Agosto, Senior Police Officer 1 Jesael Ancheta, Police Officer 2 Alvin Paul Bulandres, and Police Officer 2 Alfredo Dunque.
All were killed in action when they responded to Guihulngan City Councilor Edison de la Rita’s call for assistance.
De la Rita asked for help after he was allegedly waylaid by the rebel-suspects. He sustained a minor head injury while his aide Michael Jambalos was among the fatalities.
The PRO-NIR reported over the weekend that 15 high-powered firearms of the police were seized by the rebel-suspects.
Meanwhile, Senior Inspector Armilyn Vargas, public information officer of PRO-NIR, said the Philippine flag at the regional headquarters in Bacolod City has been flown at half-mast.
Investigation
Senior Superintendent Henry Biñas, acting director of Norppo, said he tasked the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to summon De la Rita and his driver for questioning.
During the initial investigation, De la Rita told the CIDG that he was able to call for help when he jumped from the motorcycle. He hid to call his wife, who also asked help from the city administrator.
The city administrator then contacted Arpon to respond to Barangay Tambuanan, where De la Rita was allegedly ambushed, Biñas said.
However, Arpon and his men were attacked by New People’s Army (NPA) rebels about two kilometers away from De la Rita’s location.
“They (policemen) were trapped and had difficulty fighting the rebels because the area is far and they were in the middle of the road surrounded by trees and a cliff,” Biñas said.
Biñas said it took an hour before the bodies of the fatalities were retrieved due to the continued sniper fire from the rebels.
He added that Arpon, who was in the front seat, was able to fire back, but sustained multiple gunshot wounds.
Biñas said a habal-habal or motorcycle taxi driver was sent by De la Rita to inform the police about his situation. He then told the driver to fetch De la Rita and bring him to the ambush site after the clearing operation. De la Rita waited for an hour before he was brought to the police station.
Biñas said De la Rita and another politician in Negros Occidental were targets of the NPA, based on the documents retrieved by the military troops during a previous encounter in Guihulngan last month.
De la Rita and his driver were not placed under police custody, but he should be available if he will be called for another questioning, Biñas said.
For his part, Colonel Eliezer Losañes, commander of the Philippine Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade, said they are continuously conducting pursuit operation against the perpetrators.
They remain on full alert for possible follow-up encounter with the rebels, he added.
