Mar 7, 2010
MANILA- THE Philippine military on Sunday admitted that a junior officer who led his men into a deadly ambush by communist guerrillas had made a tactical mistake. New People's Army (NPA) guerrillas ambushed the platoon led by a lieutenant on Mindoro island south of Manila at dawn on Saturday, killing the officer and 10 of his men and leaving seven other soldiers wounded.
'After we put more troops in there, we will be conducting an investigation over a possible tactical blunder in the operation,' said regional military chief Lieutenant General Roland Detabali. 'It's possible the decision of the lieutenant to move his troops at that hour did not have the benefit of supervision (from senior officers).'
'They were attacked at 5:20 (am), and that was too late for such a movement. They should have moved the previous night, and used the daylight hours to rest and conduct intelligence work,' he added. 'Why did they move at 5:20 when it was nearly light?'
The army previously said the reconnaissance unit had been ordered to track the activities of communist rebels extorting money from candidates in elections to be held in May. 'I am an (army) ranger too; it is normal for us to move at night,' Gen. Detabali said. 'In daylight hours, you do not move unless you receive express orders to do so. If you lack cover, you will be seen (by the enemy).'
Gen. Detabali said the army command would send a representative of the inspector-general to interview the survivors as well as their company and battalion commanders. He said the army was also sending a 100-member reconnaissance company to Mindoro to replace the decimated unit. -- AFP
