Reports reaching Army chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon stated that elements of the Task Force Panay were on their way to the headquarters of the 47th Infantry Brigade on board an Elf six-wheel truck and an M-35 six-by-six when they hit landmines allegedly planted by NPA guerrillas at Barangay Datagan, Calinog, at 8:35 p.m. last Saturday.
The nine soldiers died immediately from the strong landmine blasts, the reports said.
Reports relayed by Maj. General Alfonsus Crusero, 3rd Infantry Division chief, said that immediately after the two vehicles were immobilized by the landmine explosions, the NPA rebels peppered the Army soldiers with bullets from the roadside.
Army authorities refused to reveal the identities of the slain soldiers pending the notification of their family and relatives on the incident.
Crucero said that the 20 soldiers — despite being wounded in the landmine attack — managed to repel the communist guerillas from getting near the military trucks to take their firearms.
The same Army reports said the NPA suffered heavy casualties when military reinforcements arrived at the battle scene.
The wounded Army personnel were rushed to the Calinog District Hospital before they were taken to the Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City for treatment.
"This recent attack by members of the communist NPA using landmines indicates a shift in their usual conduct of combat operations and is a clear manifestation of their terroristic nature," Army spokesman Major Bartolome Bacarro said in a statement.
"This is also in consonance with the intensified offensive order by their terrorist leadership to create a chaotic and unstable atmosphere in the country," he added.
Meanwhile, Director General Arturo C. Lomibao, chief of the Philippines National Police (PNP), appealed to civilians not to provide financial support to the NPA amid the escalation of attacks by the rebels against private telecommunication facilities in various parts of the country.
Lomibao also ordered PNP field commanders to step up pursuit operations against NPA guerillas who were responsible in the attack on Globe telecommunications cell sites in Iloilo and Quezon provinces the other day.
Reports reaching the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City said that a large band of NPA rebels engaged a Tiaong Police team in Barangay Lumingon at 3:30 a.m. the other day.
Camp Crame reports said that the police team responded to a report relayed residents in the area regarding the presence of armed men clad in fatigue uniform near a Globe cell site.
When the police team arrived at the scene, they were met by heavy gunfire by the rebels.
One police officer was killed while three other policemen were seriously wounded in the incident.
"He (Lomibao) appealed to those concerned to stop supporting the CPP/NPA with financial and other material support so that they will not use it to the detriment of our troops in the field," PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Leopoldo Bataoil said.
Lomibao also reiterated his order to PNP field unit commanders to strengthen security at Globe and other vital installations.
