Two soldiers killed in ambush by suspected Reds

By Ronron
March 11, 2008

Two soldiers were killed in an ambush Monday afternoon by suspected members of the New People's Army (NPA) in Camarines Sur province, a military spokesman said Tuesday.

Maj. Randolph Cabangbang, spokesman of the Armed Forces Southern Luzon Command, identified the victims as Privates First Class Alvin Nario and John Dave Tanay, both of the Bravo Company, 31st Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army's 9th Infantry Division.

Cabangbang said the two were aboard a motorcycle, unarmed and in civilian clothes when fired upon by undetermined number of guerillas at around 4:30 pm the other day (Monday) at Barangay Cawayan in Ragay town.

They died on the spot.

Cabangbang said the two were on their way back to their patrol base in Barangay Casay, Lupi town of said province after conducting a community work when the incident happened.

He said the two had just finished talking to local residents to listen to their problems in the community.

"The soldiers were conducting community work and unarmed at that time. The NPA's are that coward, not giving our soldiers some fighting chance," Cabangbang quoted 9th ID commander Maj. Gen. Jeoffrey Sodusta to have said.

Asked for the motive of the attack against the two, Cabangbang said: "It's an order from their Central Committee to liquidate soldiers involved in community work. Our operations in the communities are effective and they cannot counter it."

The 5,760-strong NPA has been waging guerilla warfare in the countryside in the last 39 years although the government vows to crush them by 2010 when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ends her term.

Peace talks between the government and the communist movement bogged down in August 2004 after the latter backed out from the negotiating table in protest to their inclusion in the terror list of some foreign governments./DMS