PNP troops in Visayas under full alert amid NPA attacks
PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) chief, General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. has ordered all police units in Visayas region to be on full alert to prevent more New People’s Army attacks targeting government troops assigned in so-called Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas.
Early Friday morning, a band of heavily-armed NPA guerrillas killed two Army soldiers and injured two others in an attack in Barangay Dorillo in Jipapad, Eastern Samar.
An innocent 10-year old girl was also hit by a stray bullet fired by the gunmen who attacked the soldiers assigned to address threats posed by the NPA in the area. She was taken to a hospital in Borongan City for treatment.
Azurin said he has ordered the Police Regional Office 8 headed by Brigadier Gen. Rommel Francisco D. Marbil to mobilize all his available forces to help the Philippine Army get the attackers.
Police are also checking hospitals and clinics in the area for any person being treated for gunshot wounds amid reports that some of the rebels were hit when the Army troopers fired back.
The PRO7 headed by Brig. Gen. Leo M. Francisco are also helping the Army’s 303rd Brigade in going after NPA gunmen who engaged troops in a gunbattle in Sitio Sig-ang in Barangay Carabalan in Himamaylan City in Negros Occidental on Thursday.
The firefight triggered the evacuation of hundreds of local residents amid the possibility they may be caught in a crossfire.
The gunbattles erupted as soldiers were checking the reported presence of suspected NPA gunmen in the area. The incident triggered the suspension of classes in affected villages on Friday.
Gen. Azurin this week said Lieutenant Gen. Rhodel O. Sermonia will remain as the commander of the Area Police Command-Visayas apart from serving as Officer-in-Charge/PNP Deputy Chief for Administration.
Gen. Azurin said that being ‘a good advocate in organizing and mobilizing the community,’ Lt. Gen. Sermonia is already proving his worth in helping address threats posed by communist insurgents in the Visayas region.
“Me problema tayo sa Visayas region lalo na sa Samar, namamatayan tayo kaya we need to organize the people, we need to minimize the problem kung hindi man agad mapigilan kasi para sa akin, one casualty is too many,” Gen. Azurin said.
As OIC-DCA, which is the 2nd highest position in the 226,000-strong police force, Lt. Gen. Sermonia is expected to assist Gen. Azurin in running the day-to-day administrative affairs of the organization.
