Four soldiers of the Philippine Army were killed by armed groups in separate clashes Thursday in the cities of Davao and Marawi.
Bandits believed to be members of the Maute Group fired shots at personnel of the Military Intelligence Group (MIG) 10 who were on board a silver Isuzu Crosswind while conducting intelligence operations at Barangay Lilod Madaya, Marawi City.
Army Lt. Col. Benedicto Manquiquis, the chief of the 1st Infantry Division-Public Affairs Office, identified the fatalities as Major Jerico P. Mangalus, a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) “Banyuhay” Class of 2002, and Corporal Bryan Libot while Corporal Rolando Cartilla ended up injured during the attack.
The terrorist group were on board a white Toyota Corolla with plate number (ULB-391) when they fired on the soldiers’ vehicle.
Manquiquis said the encounter lasted for almost 10 minutes resulting to the death of Mangalus and Libot and the wounding of Cartilla.
The casualty on the enemy side is still undetermined.
Manquiquis said the casualties were immediately brought to Amal Pakpak Hospital, Marawi City, for proper disposition.
Meanwhile, troops from the the 65th Infantry Battalion conducted pursuit operations against the enemy while checkpoint operations were conducted in Marawi City.
In Davao City, two more soldiers were killed while 15 of their comrades were wounded when an encounter between the troops of the 3rd Infantry Battalion and New People’s Army (NPA) ensued along the boundary of Barangay Lacson and Barangay Lamanan both of Calinan District.
Army Major Ezra L. Balagtey, spokesman of the Joint Task Force Haribon of the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Eastern Mindanao Command, said the names of the killed soldiers were not yet release pending notification of their families.
Balagtey said the encounter took place after the rebels detonated a land mine while a convoy of troops were in pursuit of armed men who burned a pineapple harvester owned by Del Monte in Barangay Tawantawan, Calinan District, Davao City Thursday.
The soldiers then engaged the undetermined number of NPA rebels believed to be members of Pulang Bagani Command 1, Southern Mindanao Regional Command into a gunfight where two rebels ended up dead.
Brigadier General Gilbert I. Gapay, the commander of JTF Haribon which has operational jurisdiction over Davao City, expressed grief for the death of the soldiers and vowed to pursue the NPA rebels.
“We grieved for the death of our soldiers, and we salute them for their display of the finest tradition of soldiery, we see to it that their death will not be in vain, this will further motivate us to work for peace in this part of the country,” Gapay said.
“Since last night we are on clearing operations to clear the areas of other possible IEDs that might endanger the people and community therein and other possible NPA casualty left,” he added. (FRANCIS T. WAKEFIELD)