December 2, 2004, The Philippine Star, Palace Condemns NPA Ambush on Soldiers in Relief Operations, SAN RAFAEL, BULACAN, STAR) Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye and members of the House of Representatives condemned in the strongest terms yesterday the

December 2, 2004, The Philippine Star, Palace Condemns NPA Ambush on Soldiers in Relief Operations,

SAN RAFAEL, BULACAN, STAR) Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye and members of the House of Representatives condemned in the strongest terms yesterday the ambush by New People’s Army (NPA)Tuesday in San Rafael, Bulacan in which 10 soldiers of the 56th Infantry Battalion who were on rescue and relief operations were killed. Six other soldiers were wounded.

"We condemn the ambuscade as a cowardly and criminal act of the highest order," Bunye said. "The soldiers were on a relief and rescue mission and there is no way the attack can be excused or justified."

"The area is under a state of calamity and it is supposed to be a time for all of us to extend a helping hand to those who were affected by a misfortune, not a dark opportunity to commit murder," he said.

Nineteen soldiers were preparing to check bridges and roads destroyed by tropical storm "Winnie," which left nearly 340 people dead and 150 missing on Tuesday when they were attacked by about 80 suspected NPA rebels in San Rafael town, the Army said.

Army spokesman Maj. Bartolome Bacarro said one guerrilla was also killed in the firefight, while the rest of the rebels fled with 18 of the slain soldiers’ firearms.

The firefight lasted for more than three hours, sources said.

The military identified the slain soldiers as 2Lt. Ben Puyao, S/Sgt. Rogelio Ocfemia, S/Sgt. Juan Malana, Cpl. Jaime Gabanzo, Cpl. Ramon Villareal and Privates Lito Albarico, Eric Angara, Rodolfo Garcia, Marcian Balwog and Renato Magbanua.

The wounded soldiers were identified as Sgt. Eddie Pinkihan, Cpl. Allan Dumanay and Privates Salvador Bolibar, Jose Agpalo, Ferdinand Labrador and Zindrick Asuncion.

Bunye did not say whether the government would raise the ambuscade in San Rafael as a human rights violation case against the communist group, even as the Arroyo administration indefinitely postponed peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA-National Democratic Front.

Bulacan police director Senior Superintendent Benedict Michael Fokno said elements of the 306th Mobile Group and a company from the Army’s 56th Infantry Battalion were immediately dispatched to the ambush site.

In Tarlac City, Lt. Col. Preme Monta, spokesman for the Nolcom based at Camp Gen. Servillano Aquino, revealed yesterday morning that the 10 soldiers were waylaid in Barangay Pasong Bakal in San Rafael town.

"Our soldiers were there to help, especially in advising villagers and motorists not to take the damaged bridge," Monta said.

The bodies of the slain soldiers and the survivors of the clash have been extracted from the encounter site, Monta said.

Nolcom commander Lt. Gen. Romeo Dominguez said "masama ang loob namin (we feel very bad about the incident)."

Dominguez said that the slain and wounded soldiers had been "pulled out from their combat assignments to carry out a humanitarian mission in flood-stricken areas of Bulacan."

Monta said he hopes that the CPP-NPA will take the incident up with the National Democratic Front (NDF), which has been representing the entire rebel movement in the peace talks.

Through the NDF, Monta said, the incident should be brought to the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) overseeing the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), which government negotiators and their rebel counterparts signed in 1998.

Monta said the communist leadership should hold the guerrillas involved in the ambush "accountable for this unnecessary incident, which happened at a time when the masses of San Rafael town were in dire need of help."

Communist movement spokesman Gregorio Rosal said the CPP-NPA-NDF is calling on the AFP "to respect the plight of the victims and refrain from conducting offensive military operations under the guise of ‘relief-and-rescue’ operations."

Rosal said it was likely the soldiers were about to "conduct military operations against the NPA," adding that the slain soldiers, "were no longer on a mercy mission, but were armed, dangerous and on the offensive."

He said the rebels in San Rafael had to take "defensive action" by carrying out the ambush.

Rosal said the CPP directed NPA guerrillas operating in calamity-struck areas in Aurora, Quezon, Bulacan and Nueva Ecija to exert effort in "helping out victims of flooding and landslides in rebuilding their houses and recovering from setbacks brought about by heavy rains during the past several days."

Meanwhile, legislators led by Bulacan Reps. Lorna Silverio and Reylina Nicolas also condemned the ambush.

Silverio said the incident "was contrary to communist rebels’ supposed ideology to help and protect the people. It smacks of double-talk and puts doubt in (their) sincerity."

"We condemn in the strongest terms the communist rebels’ killing of soldiers who were on a humanitarian mission," Nicolas said.

Lanao del Sur Rep. Benasing Macarambon said "our soldiers were there risking their lives for others but the communist rebels took advantage of the situation to stage an attack. That was a dastardly act."

Muntinlupa City Rep. Rufino Biazon said the NPA rebels who conducted the ambush in Bulacan deserve "nothing less than the condemnation of the Filipino people."

"While the NPA may have scored a military victory, they have actually lost moral ground in the eyes of the flood victims. They have committed an act of aggression not against the military, but against the people," Biazon said.

"The deaths of 10 soldiers in Bulacan was uncalled for," he added. "The NPA should instead mobilize and assist in the rescue operations." — Marichu Villanueva, James Mananghaya, Benjie Villa, Ric Sapnu, Delon Porcalla and AFP