CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Three police officers from the Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB) Region 13 were wounded in an encounter with suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Carmen town in Agusan del Norte province at around 1:30 a.m, Wednesday, August 2, 2017.
Wounded in the clash in the hinterland area in Barangay Poblacion were PO1 Ricky Arcite, PO1 Joemar Guiral and PO1 Damilo Valenzuela, according to Police Superintendent Martin Gamba, Public Information Officer of the Police Regional Office 13 (PRO-13).
Gamba said Arcite was wounded in the right shoulder, right part of the abdominal area and left finger. Guiral, 30, was injured in the left leg and Valenzuela, 31, in the left arm.
“Our personnel from the RPSB-13 are part of the joint hot pursuit operation together with the Agusan del Norte Provincial Public Safety Company (PPSC) and elements of the Army’s 23rd Infantry Battalion. The joint operation is currently underway after the NPA under the Guerrilla Front 4A, North Central Mindanao Regional Committee (NCMRC) harassed the patrol base of 1st Platoon, 1st Maneuver Company of the RPSB-13 stationed in Barangay Tagcatong, Carmen last Monday,” said Gamba.
Police Senior Inspector Merben Laborera, municipal police chief of Carmen, said the encounter area is only a few kilometers from the town center.
“The encounter happened in Sitio Buske here in the Poblacion, just about 4 to 6 kilometers from the populated center of the town. That’s why people were awakened by the sound of multiple gunfire and explosion coming from the hinterland area of the town. A lot of people are really afraid of the series of incidents since Monday, but we are trying our best to assure them that the fighting will not reach the populated area,” said Laborera.
A police report from the municipal police office of Carmen said an encounter transpired on July 31, 2017 at around 10a.m. in the vicinity of Marcos Park, Barangay Tagcatong, also in Carmen.
The government incurred no casualty in the 55-minute firefight, but an undetermined number of wounded was on the enemy side. During the encounter, around 30 armed men conducted a roadblock on the National Highway of Barangay Rojales, Carmen, Agusan del Norte.
Police Chief Superintendent Rolando Felix, Regional Director of PRO-13, said the government forces are hot on the trail of the fleeing NPA rebels.