AS the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) claimed major strategic victories in Mindanao, its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), staged another daring ambush against government troops in the province of Bukidnon that left one soldier dead, while  the  party’s  two-day Christmas ceasefire was still in effect.

First Lt. Norman Tagros, battalion spokesman, Eighth Infantry Battalion, Fourth Infantry Division, on Friday identified the fallen soldier as Private First Class Akmad Maruhom, a member of the Barangay Assistance Team for Peace and Development troops of the Philippine Army.