CAMP DOWNES, Ormoc City -- The death of communist terrorist (CT) Ambrosio Gortiano Lamadora alias Ihid/Rino and the possible wounding of his son John Caña Lamadora alias Butch/Bebo/Ud/Joven during the hour-long encounter with Army soldiers in the hinterlands of Barangay Lawgawan in Bontoc, Southern Leyte about noon on Wednesday is another proof of how the CTs continued to destroy Filipino families in the name of a godless ideology and in an attempt to seize political power from the state.

Local residents told the 14th Infantry (Avenger) Battalion of the 8th Infantry Division, PA that John Lamadora was among the more or less 11 communist terrorists that clashed with the operating soldiers and is possibly wounded as well.

Mrs. Jocelyn Caña Lamadora positively identified one of the two bodies to be that of her husband Ambrosio and presented a copy of their Marriage Contract when she claimed the same from a local funeral parlor through the police. Troops assisted her in claiming the body.

For their part, the local government units of Bontoc and Tomas Oppus in Southern Leyte and of Hilongos in Leyte through their respective Municipal Task Forces to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (MTFs-ELCAC) as well as the 14IB and 802nd Infantry (Peerless) Brigade, 8ID, PA provided cash and material assistance to the Lamadora family for the wake and decent burial of the late Ambrosio.

The Lamadora family resides in Brgy. Maligaya, Mahaplag, Leyte.

On the other hand, the military is still trying to establish the exact identity of the second NPA terrorist who died on the spot in the clash but thus far, no one came forward to claim his body from Dodong's Funeral Homes in Sogod, Southern Leyte. Several former rebels assisted in identifying him through his pictures but the Army is still making further verification and is trying to contact his family before releasing his real name.

It may be recalled that during the skirmishes, S/Sgt. Benedict A. Diño of 14IB was unfortunately hit and died on the spot, while his buddy Pfc. Bernard Jack L. Idlisan was also wounded. The MTFs-ELCAC of Bontoc, Tomas Oppus and Hilongos are also helping the families of the government casualties.

Aside from one unit of M16 rifle and 114 rounds of 5.56 mm live ammunition initially captured by operating troops, subsequent clearing of the encounter site also yield military and medical supplies, and personal belongings like seven pairs of slippers, another seven pairs of rain boots and three backpacks with assorted clothing.

In the light of the latest incident, Brig. Gen. Zosimo Oliveros, commander of the 802nd Brigade, appealed to the individual NPA terrorists, their respective families and to everyone to end the senseless killings among Filipinos as they bring us nowhere but the destruction of the families, our culture, and tradition as a nation.

"In the recent incident in Bontoc, we console both the families of our slain soldier and communist terrorists as we also felt the loss of their love ones," BGen. Oliveros sympathized. (802Bde, 8ID, PA)