[Inquirer] Police and military officials have blamed the New People's Army for an ambush that killed four policemen and injured another in Bansalan town in Davao del Sur province on Wednesday morning. The attack happened a day after President Duterte said the government was holding back-channel talks with communist leaders for the possible resumption of the peace negotiations.Police spokesman Samuel Gadingan said policemen from Bansalan and from the provincial office was headed to the upland village of Sibayan to investigate a murder incident when armed men, believed to be NPA militants, fired at their vehicles.
On Tuesday, President Duterte said the government had been doing back-channel talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines to discuss the possible resumption of peace talks, which he suspended on February 4 following NPA attacks in Mindanao.
Military spokesman Marion Angcao said, "Prior to the ambush, there had been reported sightings of NPA rebels in nearby communities."
He said the ambush was staged after troops clashed with militants in Barangay Alegre on February 25 when the military took over a major NPA camp in the village.
Lt. Col. Harold Argamosa, commander of the 39th Infantry Battalion in Makilala, a town in North Cotabato province adjacent to Bansalan, said the military deployed soldiers to pursue the suspects. Bansalan shares borders with Makilala and Kidapawan City, where the NPA's Front Committee 51 is known to operate.
In Quezon province, four suspected NPA militants were killed in a clash with soldiers in San Andres town on Tuesday.
Military spokesman Lenard Agustin said a team of 18 soldiers engaged at least 20 militants in a 30-minute firefight in Barangay Mabunga on Tuesday afternoon. He said the military was informed about the presence of armed men who were soliciting food and other forms of support in the village.
Agustin said soldiers arrested a militant after the fire fight. He declined to identify the rebel but said he was from Barangay Burgos in Mulanay town.