NPA attacks Iloilo town hall; 50 employees held

TUBUNGAN, Iloilo — More than 60 members of the New People’s Army (NPA) attacked the Tubungan Police Station including its town hall at around 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday.

Eight members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and about 50 municipal employees were held hostage.

According to Chief Superintendent George Aliño, Western Visayas Police Director, the police were caught by surprise by the attack and were not prepared to fight.

However, Aliño said that SPO4 Dominador Perez Jr., officer-in-charge of the Tubungan Police Station, was able to defend the police station, the armory and treasurer’s office.

The fully armed NPA guerrillas were reportedly on board two highjacked passenger jeepneys when they arrived at the town hall and declared that they will seize the police station.

Police reported that nine M-16 armalite rifles where taken by the NPAs, including two M-14 and some short firearms.

Perez sustained four wounds in the different parts of the body due to shrapnels from a grenade rifle that exploded inside the police station.

Four unexploded M2O3 shells were also found inside the office of the treasurer and two more inside the police station by the Iloilo Provincial Police Office Bomb Squad. The six live shells where detonated in a vacant space in front of the town hall.

Based on accounts of the witnesses, 20 town employees in the ground floor were taken hostage during the attack and were forced to fit inside a small comfort room while 15 more employees on the second floor where also forced inside the comfort room located at the mayor’s office.

Fortunately, all officials including Mayor Victor Tabaquirao, the vice mayor and the town councilors were not around during the attack.

While leaving the premises, the NPA left two red flags at the front door of the town hall signifying the success of attack.

When local radio station Aksyon Radyo arrived 10 minutes after the firefight, they found Perez bleeding. They rushed him to the Iloilo Saint Paul’s Hospital in Iloilo City.

The military arrived at the scene hours after the firefight and saw that the town hall was riddled with bullets.

Aliño said the attack "will never happened again and this will give us more challenged to prepare if ever they will come back." He vowed to neutralize the group responsible for attack.

Meanwhile, Tabaquirao said that close to P1 million worth of properties were damaged by the attack, including several computers, printers and radio equipment.