Communist rebels kill cop in Palawan police station raid

MANILA, Philippines - A policemen was killed by heavily-armed New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in a raid at a police station in Palawan Wednesday morning.

Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban, commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Western Command, deployed his men with the backing of a helicopter gunship and an OV-10 reconnaissance plane to track down the rebels.

The rebels, disguised as soldiers, raided and briefly took control of the Roxas Police Station in the island province at around 10 a.m.

Two of the policemen manning the station tried to repel the raid, but they were gunned down by the rebels. One of the two policemen died and the other one is now confined in a hospital and in critical condition.

Initial investigations showed that the rebels gained entry into the police station unchallenged because the policemen mistook them for real soldiers turning over a person they supposedly arrested.

“Mga naka-military uniform sila at may isang kasamang nakaposas na umano'y isang suspect na kanilang nahuli nang dumating sila sa police station. So nakapasok sila without meeting any resistance. (They were wearing military uniforms and they brought a person in handcuffs at the police station. So they gained entry without meeting resistance)," Sabban said.

Before escaping, the rebels seized at least 8 high-powered firearms from the police station.

The rebels also left pamphlets inside the station declaring that they launched the raid in retaliation to the local police's aggressive campaign against small-scale mining activities in the area.

“Maraming nakumpiska ang mga police na mga mining tools diyan sa Roxas at dahil dito ay nawalan din ng kita ang mga NPAs nakikinabang sa mga small-scale mining operations dyan sa bundok (The local police have confiscated several mining tools in Roxas and this affected the livelihood of the rebels who benefit from small-scale mining operations),” Sabban said.

Pursuing Marine and police troops have recovered the rebels’ getaway van, which they abandoned along dirt road leading towards a mountain nearby.