The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) takes responsibility for the death of a four-month old baby during an ambush in Bukidnon last week.

“The Communist Party of the Philippines extends deepest condolences to the family of the 4-month infant who died in the NPA ( New People's Army) ambush at Brgy. Tikalaan, Talakag, Bukidnon on November 9, 2017,” the CPP said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

The rebels also killed a policeman and injured three others during the incident.

“While waiting for the final results of the on-going investigation regarding the circumstances of this unfortunate incident, the CPP takes full responsibility for the death of the infant and the wounding of two other civilians, and will take all measures possible to account for the resulting difficulties,” it added.

The CPP said based on initial report the vehicle of the civilians where the baby was a passenger tailed a police patrol car when the ambush occurred.

“NPA blocking forces intended for stopping civilian vehicles from entering the ambush site were reportedly unable to flag down the vehicle, thus exposing it to the deadly volley of fire,” it said.

The CPP also emphasized that “preventing injury to civilians has always been the policy of the revolutionary movement in the process of the people’s war.”

“All responsible Party committees and NPA commanders are advised to learn lessons from this incident towards refining the conduct of tactical offensives in order to avoid civilian casualties in the future,” it stated.

Aside from the infant and the wounded civilians, it can be recalled that the rebels also killed a policeman and injured three others during the incident. Robina Asido/ DMS