ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 4, 2011) – An army intelligence officer was reunited with his unit after escaping from a band of communist rebels who intercepted his team while on a mission in Zamboanga del Sur province, officials said Sunday.
Officials said Major Ramon Torres, intelligence chief of the 102nd Infantry Brigade based in Zamboanga Sibugay province, evaded New People’s Army rebels who chased him after escaping on Saturday near the village of Guinoman in Bayog town where his team was briefly held.
“He escaped and evaded the armed group and was able to proceed to a (army) detachment (in the town). He is back at the brigade headquarters,” Army Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command, told the Mindanao Examiner.
Some 40 rebels seized a group of military intelligence soldiers and freed them later after interrogation, but Torres escaped and was chased by gunmen.
Torres was with five intelligence operatives of the army – one officer, two enlisted men, a retired soldier and a government militia – all from 102nd Infantry Brigade and 53rd Infantry Battalion when rebels intercepted them.
The rebels confiscated three M16 automatic rifles, one M14 rifle, and five .45-caliber pistols and a 9mm pistol from Torres’ team before retreating to nearby Diplahan town.
The soldiers were in a truck owned by the Canadian mining firm TVI and heading to the village of Balabag where the company is currently conducting mineral exploration. TVI operates a mine site in Mount Canatuan in Zamboanga del Norte’s Siocon town.
Muslim rebels had previously attacked TVI workers in the province and killing 17 people and communist insurgents also staged similar attacks targeting mining companies they accused of destroying the environment and for violating the rights of ethnic tribesmen. (Mindanao Examiner)
20