By Ephraim Aguilar and Jonas Soltes, Inquirer Southern Luzon
LEGAZPI CITY—SUSPECTED COMMUNIST rebels ambushed and wounded Masbate Gov. Elisa Kho at 11:30 a.m. yesterday in Cataingan town.
Masbate Police Director Teodore Sindac said Kho and her convoy were traversing the national road toward Masbate City when members of the New People’s Army (NPA) detonated two explosive devices along the road in Barangay Gahit.
Sindac said Kho was wounded in the eyebrow as glass shards from her car’s windshield hit her face. Her security escorts were unharmed.
Sindac said Kho proceeded to the family-owned Khokha Beach in Cataingan after the ambush.
Masbate police and Army troopers from the 9th Infantry Battallion immediately launched a pursuit operations to capture the perpetrators.
Sindac said the rebels were reported to have fled to the upland villages of San Rafael and Cadulauan, both in Cataingan.
Samar police alerted
Checkpoints were set up at the town boundary while the Samar provincial police were alerted to the possible withdrawal of the rebels to that province, which is across from Masbate island.
The Khos are a well-known political family in the province. Kho replaced her husband, Rep. Antonio Kho, as governor in 2007. Son Wilston is the youngest mayor of Cataingan town, having been elected at the age of 21.
The family defeated another political clan in Masbate, the Espinosas.
Masbate is one of the hotbeds of communist insurgency in the Bicol region, which will be the venue of joint Philippine and United States military exercises, called Balikatan, in April. (See related story on Page A)
Birthday celebration
Two days before the ambush, Kho joined in the celebration of her husband’s birthday which was highlighted by the distribution of 50 cows to farmers
Sandra Cam, former police drug asset and admitted “jueteng” bagwoman along with former Ilocos Sur Gov. Chavit Singson and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) Chair Efraim Genuino reportedly attended the party.
Ako Bikol, a nongovernment organization chaired by property developer Elizalde Co, spearheaded the giving away of the cows at Khokha Beach together with local government officials. Recipients included two farmers from each of the 20 municipalities and one city of Masbate.
Balikatan link
Rep. Reno Lim of Albay’s 3rd district condemned the slay try but dismissed speculation it was meant to protest the coming Balikatan exercises on the island.
Lim was one of the officials who announced the holding of the joint RP-US military games in Bicol in a press conference last week.
Masbate is the second poorest province in the country with about 80 percent of its residents living below the poverty line.
The island has long been known for rough and often violent politics. Masbate was the only province placed under Commission on Elections control in the Bicol region during the 2007 elections.
Placer attack
Communist rebels in Masbate exploded a roadside bomb and instigated firefights with government soldiers when President Macapagal-Arroyo and her Cabinet held a cabinet meeting in Placer, another town in Masbate, to assess the damage caused by recent Typhoon “Frank.”
No one was hurt in the blast, which police suspect was caused by a land mine.
A fourth-class municipality, Placer is a known hotbed of insurgency.
After a Christmas holiday ceasefire, the NPA leadership has reportedly ordered its fighters to step up attacks on government forces. Recently, a land mine was reportedly used to ambush a police car in Rizal province, the eastern flank of Metro Manila.
1 comment:
Post a Comment