Philippines: Communist NPA rebels raid Navy H.Q. in Quezon

Some 60 suspected New People's Army (NPA) rebels attacked the Philippine Navy headquarters in Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon on Tuesday, killing two people and injuring five others.

Senior Supt. Federico Terti, Real police chief, said the rebels came around 11 a.m., onboard a motorized banca while others used a jeep and a van.

Killed in the firefight were Coast Guard Petit Officer Jovit Denamarca and an unidentified sailor. Five others were injured including a policeman, two navy men and two Coast Guard personnel.

Terti said the rebels seized an M60 machine gun and rifles before leaving onboard two motorized bancas to Mauban, Quezon.

NEWSFLASH!! NPA ATTACKS RP NAVY SHIP, 2 NAVYMEN DEAD

MANILA, August 20, 2003 (STAR) President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo condemned the latest attack by the communist New People's Army (NPA) on a Navy ship docked near a coastal town, killing two Navy men.

Pres. Arroyo said in a statement, "I sympathize with the victims in this unfortunate incident and I expect the Coast Guard and other law enforcement units to be on constant alert against such an opportunistic aggression."

"The (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and the (Philippine National Police) are pursuing the perpetrators and will not stop until they are accounted for," she promised.

Aside from the two, five others were wounded when 15 NPA rebels attacked the ship docked in the coastal town of Real, 75 kilometers (47 miles) east of Manila.

Those killed were identified as Navy staffer Ismael Bernal and petty officer Joseph Denamarca.

The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), which has been waging a decades-old rebellion.

7 killed in attacks by communist guerrillas in Philippines

MANILA (AFP) - Communist guerrillas in the Philippines attacked a navy ship and ambushed an army truck in the Philippines Tuesday, killing seven, the military said.

Earlier, five others were wounded when 15 New People's Army (NPA) rebels attacked the ship docked in the coastal town of Real, 75 kilometers (47 miles) east of Manila.

Those killed were identified as navy staffer Ismael Bernal and petty officer Joseph Denamarca.

Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Lucero said members of the army's 59th Infantry Battalion were pursuing the attackers.

NPA guerrillas, meanwhile, ambushed a government truck carrying members of the army's engineering brigade in the southern province of Davao Oriental, leaving five soldiers dead.

One soldier was also wounded in the attack near the town of Baganga where the engineers were conducting infrastructure work, the military said.

The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), which has been waging a decades-old rebellion.

President Gloria Arroyo said last week the government was set to resume exploratory peace talks with the rebels, two years after negotiations were suspended when NPA rebels gunned down two legislators.

NPA claims killing 5 Army engineers

DAVAO CITY -- The communist New People's Army Wednesday said it killed five soldiers and wounded another military man in an ambush against members of the Army's 55th Engineering Brigade in Baganga town, Davao Oriental province on Tuesday.

Rigoberto Sanchez, spokesperson of the NPA's Merardo Arce Command, in a statement furnished reporters, said guerrillas belonging to the 2nd Pulang Bagani Company attacked the soldiers who were then "conducting combat support operation" in Sitio Kamamangan in Barangay Binondo.

Sanchez said one soldier had also been wounded.

The military's Civil Relations Group (CRG) for Southeastern Mindanao based in Camp Panacan confirmed there was a clash between soldiers and rebels in Baganga on Tuesday afternoon.

However, it said no casualty had been reported as of press time.

The CRG said the encounter took place while Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, Environment Secretary Elizea Gozun, and Social Welfare Secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman were visiting Mount Diwata in nearby Monkayo town in Compostela Valley province.

Sanchez identified the slain soldiers as master sergeant Oscar Andale, sergeants Orlando Monton and Vicente Felias, privates first class Bayan Guiamad and Willy Manlana. Wounded was private first class Abdul Nasser Kamid.

Sanchez said the attacking rebels also recovered two M16 Armalite rifles from the battle scene.

Sanchez said the ambush on the Army engineers was justified because they have been providing not only infrastructure support but also intelligence information against the NPA.

He said Army engineers would also conduct combat missions.

In Naga City, Camarines Sur police director Senior Superintendent Roberto Rongavilla has raised a warning against the NPA's "agaw-armas" (snatching of firearms) operations.

This special operations of the NPA rebels is in progress, Rongavilla warned all security guards and armed government personnel.

He raised the alert after investigators got the information from a confession of a 19-year-old suspect who shot dead and took away a .38-caliber revolver of a security guard of Mercury Drug Store on Saturday.

Rongavilla said Ely Portezo, the slain drugstore security guard, was the second victim of the busted "agaw-armas" operation team. He said another security guard working at a Family Savings Bank here, Rolando Nato, was also shot dead on Aug. 12.

Last Sunday, three suspected NPA members shot dead Chief Inspector Loreto Tablizo, deputy provincial director of Catanduanes province.

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