Cop wounded in shootout with PAG in Albay town

LEGAZPI CITY, Feb. 5 (PNA) -– Suspected members of a private armed group (PAG) launched an ambush against a team from the Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB), wounding one policeman before engaging the government forces in a running gun battle in the upland of Libon, Albay before noon Tuesday. Police Officer 1 Jeffrey Balane sustained gunshot wounds at the back torso in the first volley of gunfire from the suspects. The Public Information Office inside Camp Gen. Simeon Ola in this city revealed that the RPSB team was on board a back-to-back type patrol car when fired upon by members of the Concepcion gun-for-hire group which is suspect in the killing of a mayoral aspirant in Malinao, Albay late last year. The policemen were on a joint operation with the Regional Intelligence Unit (RIU) in Barangay Molosbolos, area of domicile of the Concepcion brothers, in an effort to track them and carry out their immediate arrest. The team was bound to return to headquarters when ambushed by the suspects at around 11:15 a.m. Balane was brought to the Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital in this city and was confirmed by attending physicians as out of danger as of 12:30 p.m. As of this writing, pursuit operations by the Libon town police and members of RPSB and RIU are ongoing. The Concepcion group has been considered a PAG since its involvement in the murder of engineer Nelson Morales, a businessman in Malinao town who was about to run for mayor of Malinao. Gilbert Concepcion, the leader of the group, along with his brothers and cousins--all residents of Molosbolos, were identified by witnesses as the members of the group who staged the ambush on Morales. Concepcion is a former member of the New People’s Army (NPA) who voluntarily surrendered and was later integrated into the Army service. His brothers and other male relatives joined his drive against the underground movement by joining the Citizens Armed Forces’ Geographical Unit (CAFGU) under the 2nd Infantry Battalion based in Ligao City. The Concepcion group was known in the 3rd District towns for its campaign against former NPA comrades and gained notoriety as do-or-die fighters feared by rebels in the uplands of the district. (PNA) FPV/FGS/ALV/MMG/UTB