ROADSIDE BOMB. The encounter site, where suspected CPP-NPA members engaged policemen and detonated an anti-personal mine, in Barangay Bi-ao, Binalbagan, Negros Occidental on Sunday (Feb. 13, 2022). Two personnel of Binalbagan Municipal Police Station were injured during the explosion while a 15-year-old boy was hit by a stray bullet. (Photo courtesy of Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office)
BACOLOD CITY – Two policemen and a minor in Binalbagan, Negros Occidental were wounded during a roadside encounter with suspected members of Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) in Barangay Bi-ao on Sunday morning.
Police report said Lt. Charles Richard Casalan, the station’s deputy chief of police, and Cpl. Julius Tranquillero, sustained minor injuries during an explosion and were treated in the town infirmary, along with a 15-year-old boy, who was hit by a stray bullet.
Maj. Ellendie Rebusquillo, chief of Binalbagan Municipal Police Station, said 10 of his men were on board a patrol vehicle going to Sitio Nursery, which called for assistance after residents found a dead man in the area.
At around 8:15 a.m. while traversing Sitio Candida 2, shots were fired at the policemen and when they fired back, an explosion took place, he added.
In a statement, Brig. Gen. Flynn Dongbo, director of Police Regional Office-Western Visayas (PRO-6), denounced what he calls a “treacherous act” of the CPP-NPA in detonating an anti-personnel mine aimed at the policemen.
He said several communist-terrorists were seen engaging the policemen and they withdrew to various directions after the gunfight.
“They have the intention to kill our personnel who are lawfully performing their mandated duties. They also disturbed the tranquility of the community in Barangay Bi-ao,” Dongbo said.
He said police personnel are now pursuing the perpetrators.
“We will conduct a thorough investigation, find evidence to support an airtight case, and run after them,” he added.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The National Democratic Front has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973. (PNA)
