Hot pursuit for killers of pregnant woman

CAMP BANCASI, Butuan City – Major Gen. Ronald Villanueva, commanding general of the AFP’s Northeastern and Northern Mindanao 4th Infantry (Diamond) Division (4th ID) on Saturday ordered field unit commanders in Surigao del Sur to widen their hot pursuit operations to capture New People’s Army (NPA) rebels, who shot dead a pregnant woman in an attack on a military detachment on Thursday.

The 4th ID chief also ordered Col. Franco Nemesio Gacal, commanding officer of the Army’s 402nd Infantry (Stingers) Brigade, to direct his battalion commanders to extend assistance to the family of the victim.

The 4th ID chief was saddened after learning that Jennyfer Maca, 25years old and who was three-months pregnant, was brutally shot and killed when Communist insurgents NPAs, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), staged an attack on the 16th Special Forces Company (16th SFC) detachment in Barangay Bitaugan, San Miguel, Surigao del Sur on Thursday.

Villanueva said the NPA barrage that hit the pregnant woman was proof of another violation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect to Human Rights and Int'l Humanitarian Law which was among the agreements duly signed by the GPH (Government of the Philippines) and NDF (National Democratic Front).

"We will not allow this anymore,” the 4th ID chief added.

Maca was peppered with AK47 rifle fire in the head, causing her instantaneous death.

But the NPA has denied this. In a statement, a certain Ka Sandara Amihan, spokesperson NPA Surigao-Agusan guerilla front committee on Friday denied that the NPA killed the pregnant woman but instead alleged that the pregnant woman was killed by the bullet fire from the 16th SFC forces.

He said no one was reported hurt among the 16th SFC soldiers, who defended their Bitaugan detachment for almost 30 minutes until their attackers withdrew to Diwata range of that same municipality (San Miguel).

Only the pregnant woman, who lived in a house near the detachment was killed when some 20 heavily armed suspected NPAs attacked the 16th SFC detachment at 12:30 a.m. on Thursday, claimed the 36th CMO officer.

Lt. Col. Randolph I Rojas, commanding officer of the 36th IB immediately deployed additional troops to beef up the pursuing Bitaugan 16th SFC in San Miguel.