Four members of an elite unit of the Philippine National Police were killed Tuesday in Rizal province, in what authorities later described as posturing by suspected communist rebels in time for the May elections. Col. Aurelio Baladad, commander of the Army's 202nd Infantry Brigade, said members of the PNP Special Action Force were traveling in a remote area in Antipolo City when the armed men attacked, triggering a firefight at about 6 A.M. Aside from the four fatalities, five other policemen were wounded while two others were reportedly missing. The four fatalities were identified as PO1s Rami Baddungon, Jesus moral, Johnald Tapitan and Clifford Bacwaden. The wounded were PO1s Lito Babling, Indri Majaluddin, Ronnie Baroga, Alvin Infanta and PO2 Joey Mangawit. The wounded policemen were transferred to the Camp Crame General Hospital in Quezon City for further treatment, a separate radio dzMM report said. Senior Superintendent Ferdinand Yano, Rizal provincial police director, was quoted by a GMA Flash Report as saying that two civilians were also hurt in the ambush. Prior to the firefight, a land mine and a grenade went off in the area. Authorities said the attackers numbered between 20 and 30. The policemen are members of the 34th Special Action Company based in San Jose village in Baras, Rizal. They were on their way to Bicutan, Taguig City for a regular physical examination when the ambush happened. Baladad said it was likely that the attack was connected to the upcoming elections next month. “They want to show that they are a force to reckon with during the elections,” he said. The New People's Army guerrillas threw grenades at a police vehicle carrying nine police commandos and two civilians after it ran over a landmine along an isolated road at dawn, local police chief Jonathan Miano said. “The vehicle was completely razed,” said Miano from the scene just over an hour's drive east of Manila, the nation's capital. Miano said four of the policemen were killed immediately and the others in the vehicle were taken to hospital with unspecified injuries. Local military commander Colonel Aurelio Baladad said the ambush was likely a bid by the rebels to intimidate people ahead of the May 10 elections, when thousands of positions from president to town councillor will be contested. “They (the communists) want to show that they are a force to be reckoned with during the elections,” he said. The NPA is the armed wing of the underground Communist Party of the Philippines, which has been waging a Maoist rebellion since 1969. The military said recently the NPA's strength had fallen from a peak of more than 26,000 in 1987 to below 5,000 currently.
