Retired cop, pal cheat death in ambush

DAVAO CITY--A retired police officer and his companion escaped death after they were ambushed by three unidentified armed men in a remote area of Mati City, Davao Oriental, Tuesday afternoon.

Chief Insp. Milgrace Driz, Police Regional Office-11 (PRO-11) spokesperson, said Ferdinand Mabandos, a retired police officer who was once assigned in that province, was driving his Elf truck with Omar Husain when an improvised explosive material went off. They were passing through Sitio Catmonan, Barangay Macambol around 2 p.m. when the explosion took place.

During Wednesday’s AFP-PNP Press Corps briefing at the Royal Mandaya Hotel, Driz said the explosion took place on the left side of the road and damaged the front glass windshield of the truck. The explosion was followed by gun bursts.

Driz said the victim managed to continue driving to a safe place not far from the explosion site. Mabandos alighted from his vehicle and saw three persons with undetermined long firearms.

After the incident, the suspects hurriedly descended from the road towards the seashore and were fetched by a color blue pump boat that sped off towards the direction of Barangay Lawigan.

 Driz said Mabando only sustained minor injuries and now in stable condition.

She said investigators of Mati City Police Station are looking into some personalities who could be the perpetrators.

"We could not discount the possibility that it was done by the New People's Army (NPA), but we are looking (at) some personalities behind the ambush," she said.

She said that Mabando could be a victim of mistaken identity because the truck he used that time was similar to the one used by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the military in their joint anti-illegal logging operations in the province.

Driz said the DENR and the military have been intensifying operations against illegal loggers in the province. (Armando Fenequito Jr/PNA)