ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Communist guerrillas swooped down on a police station in Tigbao town in Zamboanga del Sur Monday night, disarmed the law enforcers and took one of them hostage, authorities said.
The rebels, numbering about 40, carted away several firearms during the raid on the municipal police station in the Tigbao town proper at around 7 p.m. Monday, said Lt. Col. Randolf Cabangbang, spokesman of the Armed Forces’ Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom).
Cabangbang said the policemen manning the station were outnumbered, as the insurgents, believed belonging to various New People’s Army (NPA) forces in the Zamboanga Peninsula, accosted them.
He said the rebels also set up checkpoints along the highway, a few meters away from the police station, to block responding government forces.
Chief Superintendent Napoleon Estilles, Region 9 police director, said the guerrillas carted away at least seven high-powered firearms and took PO2 Juhali Faisal as human shield as they fled.
The rebels manning the checkpoints flagged down a private vehicle and disarmed a security man of his M-16 rifle.
Pursuit operations were ongoing to recover the captive policeman. The rebels fled toward Lakewood, an uphill town known to be an NPA stronghold, said Estilles who went to Tigbao to assess the situation.
Estilles said they would look into possible security lapses, adding that police forces in the region have been directed to be on alert.
The military, however, downplayed the NPA raid. “There is no cause for alarm; it is a simple case of robbery and kidnapping,” said Maj. Gen. Noel Coballes, Westmincom chief.
“We will pursue them (NPA rebels) like common criminals and we will support police operations to ensure the safe release of PO2 Faisal who was used as human shield to cover their withdrawal,” Coballes added.