A case of misinterpretation which had been blown out of proportion.

This was the reaction yesterday of Lt. Col. Norman Flores, commanding officer of the 61st Infantry Battalion, whose troopers reportedly harassed policemen of Bais City, Oriental Negros, Sunday.

Flores denied reports of harassments saying that the presence of soldiers in full battle gear on board an M-35 truck near the police station of Bais City, may have alarmed policemen and could have been misinterpreted by residents as an attack.

Armed soldiers reportedly barged into the Bais City Police Station on Sunday looking for Inspector Carlos Lacuesta Jr. and other policemen who had flagged them down at a police checkpoint on Dec. 28.

Brig. Gen. Jogy Leo Fojas, 303rd Infantry Brigade commanding officer, yesterday said it was also a case of miscommunication between soldiers and policemen, which has already been settled.

The establishment of checkpoints manned by the police before and after Dec. 26, the 37th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines, in various towns and cities of Oriental Negros came in the wake of reported renewed and intensified rebel attacks against government forces.

Military investigations show that 61st IB soldiers moved out from Ayungon on Dec. 28 on board a civilian truck owned by the municipal government, bound for Pamplona town.

Before leaving, Flores said 1Lt. Libongcogon requested the police of Ayungon to relay to other police units that they would pass along their areas, while on their way to Pamplona.

While passing the town of Manjuyod, the police who may not have been informed by the Ayungon police, alerted the Bais City police who immediately established a checkpoint, Flores added. He also said the Bais City policemen who manned the checkpoint and flagged down the truck loaded with soldiers, allowed them to pass by after the soldiers identified themselves as members of the 61st IB.

Reports said the soldiers were offended when they were flagged down.

More than a week later, the 61st IB soldiers on their way back to Ayungon on board an Army truck on Sunday, decided to pass by the Bais City Police Station to inquire about something from the police.

The proximity of the Army truck to the police station and the presence of soldiers, Flores said, may have alarmed the residents living in the nearby area and the police who were on heightened alert.

However, reports said the Army troopers mounted an M-60 machine gun outside the Bais City Police Station.

Flores, who met with Bais City Mayor Tata Villanueva and Lacuesta on Monday to clear the issue of reported harassment, said he even lauded the city policemen for their alertness and immediate response to reports of the alleged presence of armed men.

He also defended the action of the Bais City police in setting up a checkpoint at short notice and sparing nobody from the inspection, because police stations are now the target of raids and attacks by the CPP-NPA.

On Jan. 6, suspected New People's Army rebels simultaneously raided a police station in Leyte, carted away 31 high-powered firearms, and killed six policemen in an ambush in Masbate.*GPB

back to top