TINOC, Ifugao – A government trooper died after he was shot to death by six members of the New Peoples Army (NPA) when he tried to escape from their custody at sitio Patkik, barangay Binablayan, here around 11:45 am Wednesday.
Senior Superintendent John Colinio, director of the Ifugao Provincial Police Office, identified the slain solider as Cpl. Felix M. Pico, Jr., 32, intelligence operative of the Philippine Army based at the 54th Infantry Battalion headquarters in Butigue, Paracelis, Mountain Province.
Initial investigation showed the victim, together with a still unidentified companion, were on board a motorcycle and were traversing the road in the said place when six still unidentified armed men believed to be NPA rebels suddenly appeared from different directions, flagged down their motorcycle and accosted them.
The armed men ordered Cpl. Pico to surrender his firearm but he resisted and tried to escape from their custody which prompted them to shoot him several times hitting him on the different parts of his body.
Further, the NPA rebels reportedly brought the victim’s cadaver to the old Kiangan nursery in Binablayan proper where his remains were recovered by his colleagues in the military service.
Probers are now conducting an in-depth investigation on the circumstances that led towards the untimely demise of the government trooper.
By Dexter A. See