Sketchy reports reaching the operations center at the Northeastern Mindanao Police Regional Office 13 (PRO 13) in Camp Rafael C. Rodriguez here said the armed men swooped down on the village at 8 a.m. and strafed 15 houses while residents were busy preparing for the Sunday "tabo" (market day).
The incident happened in Purok 8, Barangay Bugsokan, some 27 kilometers south of this region’s capital city.
Identities of the slain and wounded 12-year-old boy are not yet available. The wounded boy, who was hit in his left eye, was immediately evacuated to an undisclosed hospital here for medical treatment.
The missing barangay councilman was identified as Magdalino Inoroha. His whereabouts is unknown.
"Amado sila ug tag-as nga armas sama sa M14, M16, Garand ug uban pang mga dagkong armas (The attackers were armed with high powered weapons such as M14, M16, Garand, and other big arms)," another barangay official in the area, who requested anonymity, said.
Joint pursuit operations by the 402th Infantry (Stingers) Brigade, Sibagat police, and Butuan police led by director Senior Supt. Ramon "Sprite" C. Espiritu against the fleeing armed group are ongoing.
Initial theory of the police said the attack in Purok 8 was perpetrated by communist insurgents operating in the area. "This barangay is known as an anti-communist barangay that’s why they suffered this consequences," a police officer said.
Maj. Gen. Cardoza M. Luna, area command chief of the Army’s Northern, Northeastern, and Southern Mindanao Fourth Infantry (Diamond) Division, ordered Col. Ricardo David, Army 402nd Infantry Brigade commander based in CARAGA, to conduct an all-out manhunt against the attackers while chief Supt. Rene J. Elumbaring, PRO 13 regional director, and joint Task Force Caraga commander, directed his PRO13 regional mobile force to assist by blocking positions along the boundary of Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur.
Butuan City Mayor Democrito "Big Boy" Plaza dispatched his city social services personnel to assist the immediate needs of the village folks in Barangay Bugsokan.
