LEGAZPI CITY–A police officer was wounded in an ambush by suspected members of the New Peoples Army while responding to a tip about the presence of armed men in Barangay Balocawe, Dimasalang town in Masbate province Thursday morning.
PO1 Mark Andy LLamazares, member of Dimasalang Municipal Police Station, was reported wounded during the initial burst of fire and was immediately brought to Dimasalang Rural Health Unit. No details, however, were released as to the nature and severity of his injuries.
In a report transmitted to Camp Gen. Simeon Ola that same morning, LLamasares together with other policemen were on board their patrol vehicle on their way to verify the tip, when they were fired upon by an undetermined number of gunmen believed to be communist rebels.
Senior Inspector Ma. Luisa Calubaquib, acting as spokesperson for the police, said a second team led by Senior Inspector Arnel Buncaras, officer-in-charge of the Dimasalang Police Station, returned fire at the gunmen. The rebels retreated to a forested area after being repelled by lawmen in a gunfight lasting several minutes. (Jorge Hallare/PNA)
