Philippines – Three military detachments of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) were simultaneously harassed at around 3:00 a.m. on Monday, 20 March 2017. The three detachments were fired upon with two to three shots simultaneously. The culprit? New People’s Army rebels.
The three detachments are located in the following: Quezon, Bukidnon, Sitio Lantad in Gingoog City, and Sitio Kawali, Balingasag, Misamis Oriental. Joe Patrick Martinez, 4th Infantry Division spokesperson, stated that there was no clash between the forces of the Philippine army and the NPA rebels. The gunshots were fired 300 to 500 meters away from the detachments.
Martinez added that these were just harassments meant to annoy, saying: “It’s only a nuance harassment. Hindi naman kasi sila makapasok sa ating communities kasi ito yung mga communities na palagi silang sinusumbong kaya malayo lang yung pagkakapautok. (It’s far from residential areas, and after they fired, they immediately ran away. They can’t penetrate the communities because their presence would be reported by the residents to us.)”
AFP troops in the area are investigating and plan to apprehend the said harassers.
