CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga – Five suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels swooped down on the Community Police Center in Llanera, Nueva Ecija last weekend and carted away two firearms.
In a belated report, Senior Superintendent Napoleon Taas, Nueva Ecija police director, said the armed men pretended to seek help from the police outpost in Barangay Mabini, Llanera town when only PO1 Percival Jordan de la Cruz was around.
Reports said De la Cruz’s colleagues went out for dinner when the armed men arrived.
At gunpoint, the unidentified men took De la Cruz’s caliber .45 pistol, two cellular phones and the M-16 service rifle of PO3 Sherwin Ercilla.
Police found the getaway vehicle, a Mitsubishi Elf with license plate XNA-323, in Barangay Bagumbayan, also in Llanera town, five kilometers away from the police outpost, Taas said. – Ric Sapnu