PMAer among fatalities in MILF attack in Lanao del Norte

MANILA, Philippines - A Philippine Military Academy (PMA) graduate who was holding the rank of lieutenant colonel was among the three soldiers killed in Monday's attack by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in Kolambugan town in Lanao del Norte. This was confirmed Monday evening by Lt. Col. Agane Adriatico, spokesman of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, who said Lt. Col. Angel Benitez and his two escorts were killed while on their way to report to Joint Task Force Tabak in Iligan City, also in Lanao del Norte. Adriatico said Benitez was the incoming executive officer of Joint Task Force Tabak before he was killed. Benitez was previously assigned in the 102nd Brigade of the Philippine Army. "He was on his way to Joint Task Force Tabak in Iligan City when his vehicle was ambushed by the MILF near an elementary school in Kolambugan,” Adriatico said. Adriatico said Benitez, a member of the PMA batch ’90, was hit in the head. He was the highest-ranking Army official to die in combat with the MILF in recent years Two of Benitez’s escorts were also hurt in the ambuscade, Adriatico said. - GMANews.TV