By FRANCIS T. WAKEFIELD
The spokesman of the Philippine Army (PA) Tuesday said the misencounter between Army and Philippine National Police (PNP) personnel in Samar was very unfortunate and that they sincerely condole with the families of their comrades in the police force.
Lt. Col. Louie Villanueva made the remark upon learning of the tragic incident that left six policemen dead and nine others wounded.
“This thing though unexpected and uncalled happens sometimes in the course of performing our critical task of serving and protecting the people,” Villanueva said.
“The incident happened due to the common desire of our forces (PA and PNP) to eliminate the real nuisance (communist terrorists) of our community that often create havoc and offer deceptive manipulation that further led the people to extreme sufferings,” he added.
Villanueva said both the Philippine Army and PNP is now addressing the incident through the creation of a special investigating body that will determine the gaps and lapses of the operation.
In the morning of June 25, elements of the Philippine Army 87th Infantry Battalion had a misencounter with members of the 805th Mobile Company of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 8 as both groups were conducting simultaneous combat operations in Sta. Rita and Villareal towns.
Meantime the government will provide necessary assistance to bereaved families of the victims.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that although he has little information on what took place during the misencounter, he assured that the government will be ready to help those who need assistance.
“Lahat naman po ng naging biktima o nasasaktan sa labanan na taong gobyerno, iyan po ay pinangangalagaan ng ating gobyerno,” Roque said in a press briefing in Davao City.
The Palace said it is still waiting for the results of the joint investigation being conducted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) on the incident.
Roque pointed out that President Rodrigo R. Duterte himself, in many occasions, vowed to protect and provide for soldiers and policemen as long as they did their job in the line of duty.
“Paulit-ulit po sa mga public pronouncements ni President ang kaniyang concern sa buhay at sa well-being noong ating mga men in uniform ‘no,” Roque said.
“Iyan naman po talaga ay paninindigan ni Presidente na mahalaga ang papel na ginagampanan ng ating kapulisan at ng ating Hukbong Sandatahan,” he added.
Despite the incident, Philippine Army (PA) spokesperson Lt. Col. Louie Villanueva said that it will not dampen the cooperation between the two law enforcement units in carrying out their mandate.
“Despite this challenge, we will continue to perform our mandate alongside the Philippine National Police (PNP) to serve the interest and protect the well-being of the people,” Villanueva said in a text message to reporters. (With a report from the Philippine News Agency)
