3 soldiers wounded in roadside explosion in Philippines

DAVAO CITY – Three government soldiers were injured in a roadside explosion Tuesday in the southern Philippine province of Compostela Valley, a known stronghold of communist insurgents in the restive region.

The soldiers were travelling in a truck in Kingking village in Pantukan town when suspected New People’s Army rebels remotely detonated the bomb. The blast wounded Corporal Michael Tabanao, Privates First Class Jerome Penaranda and Albert Cahepe, all members of the 46^th Infantry Battalion.

The wounded soldiers were rushed to hospital in Tagum City. Their medical condition is unknown and the military did not release any statement on the daring attack.

Last week, rebels also strafed a low-flying agricultural plane and fatally wounded its pilot Captain Lynbert Laguda Sr in Surigao del Sur province, also in southern Philippines. Despite his wound, Laguda managed to safely land his aircraft and rushed to the hospital, but eventually died due to loss of blood from a gunshot wound he sustained in the body.

Laguda, a seasoned pilot from Dana Farms Aviation Inc. based in Davao City, was spraying fertilizer over a farm in Tagbina town when rebels targeted his plane. He was flying a single-engine biplane Grumman G-164 Ag Cat agricultural aircraft and a member of the Agricultural Aviator Association of the Philippines. The plane bore 3 bullet holes – on the fuselage near the cockpit, wings and on the nose near the engine of Laguda’s aircraft.

NPA rebels have previously threatened to attack agricultural aircrafts in the restive region where the communist group had been extorting money from aviation firms. The rebel group has been fighting for a separate Maoist state in the country for many decades now. (Mindanao Examiner)

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