DAVAO CITY – Five soldiers of the Army’s 8th Infantry Battalion were injured after an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded in Barangay Pagan, Kitaotao, Bukidnon Sunday morning.
The Army in a press release said “a firefight ensued for five minutes after the blast.”
The soldiers were identified as Second Lieutenant Noel Manalang, Sergeant Ruel Lavalle, Private First Class Abdurasan Ibnomusa, PFC Rav Pamalison, and PFC Marvin Dancel.
Captain Alberto Caber of the Eastern Mindanao Command said the soldiers were immediately brought to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Caber said “the soldiers were on pursuit operations against members of guerrilla front 53, Southern Mindanao Regional Committee of the CPP/NPA who are responsible in the aborted liquidation attempt of White Kulaman Barangay Chairman Felipe S. Cabugnason, the other day.”
He said Cabugnason “has been receiving death threats from alleged NPA members after he led his barangay folks and their community in liberating their barangay from abusive NPA rule and preventing certain NGOs, which he identified as communists and supporters of the NPA, from entering their barangay due to blatant lies and deceits shown to his constituents.”
Meanwhile, school administrators of the Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation Inc. (Misfi) Academy has recently filed their complaint against Cabugnason for allegedly ordering the burning and closure of their school in Kitaotao. (davaotoday.com)
