Two policemen and a teenager were injured when alleged New People’s Army rebels detonated an Anti-Personnel Mine and fired at them in Brgy. Bi-ao, Binalbagan, Negros Occidental, at about 8:15 a.m. Sunday, February 13, the town’s cop chief said.
The policemen who were on board their Hilux patrol vehicle were able to escape because the cellular phone of their driver, PSgt. Brian Ganzon, saved him from a bullet headed towards his chest, Maj. Ellendie Rebusquillo, Binalbagan police chief, said.
The bullet instead of hitting the driver’s chest shattered his phone, Rebusquillo said.
The policemen were responding to a report that NPA rebels had killed a person in Sitio Nursery, Barangay Bi-ao.
As their patrol car approached the improvised explosive device exploded beside the road at Sitio Candida 2, Brgy. Bi-ao, wounding the two policemen. A 15-year-old boy was injured by a stray bullet in his buttocks in the exchange of gunfire that ensued, Rebusquillo said.
Injured were PLt. Charles Richard Casalan, Binalbagan deputy police chief, who sustained a fractured index finger and was rushed to a hospital, and PCpl. Julius Tranquillero who sustained a slight injury near the eye, Rebusquillo added.
Ganzon and four other policemen on the vehicle sustained bruises, he said.
Rebusquillo said killed at his house at Sitio Nursery was Vertito Roso, who was suspected by the rebels to be an Army asset. Four rebels reportedly entered Roso’s house while two others acted as lookouts, witnesses said.
Four teams of about 80 rebels were also spotted by residents in Bi-ao on Sunday , he said.
The Police Regional Office 6 condemned what it called “the treacherous act of the local Communist Terrorist Group.
PBrig. Gen. Flynn Dongbo, PNP 6 director, said they will conduct a thorough investigation of the incident and find evidence to support an airtight case against the rebels.
Pursuit operations are ongoing against the rebels, he said.*