Rebels raid police station, flee with assorted firearms

CEBU - Armed men who claimed to be members of the New People’s Army raided a police station in Negros Oriental and fled with assorted high-powered short and long firearms in less than two minutes, a police official said.

However, the Negros Provincial Police Office is not yet certain NPA members really hit the Police Station in barangay Poblacion, La Libertad, Negros Oriental, before midnight last Sunday.

NPPO chief Sr. Supt. Augusto Marquez Jr. said in an interview with The Freeman, around 12 armed men swooped down on the police station around 11 p.m.

According to Marquez, the raiders duped the police by using an elderly woman to act as a complainant, but after the police invited her inside, two armed women already posted in the dark sprang into action and ordered the five policemen in the station to drop to the floor.

The rest of the armed band arrived on board two pedicabs.

The raiders then ransacked the cabinets and took the policemen’s belongings including cellular phones and wallets. They also took four M16 rifles and six .45 cal. pistols, two of these personally owned by the lawmen.

One of the policemen, PO1 Carl Mark Jopillo, who was outside the station heard the commotion and saw what was happening. He fired shots at the raiders and was later hit in the right thigh when they returned fire but still managed to crawl to safety.

Inmates detained in the police station at the time would later report one of the raiders was killed while two others were wounded.

The raiders then escaped in a Nissan Urvan while Jopillo was brought to the Guihulngan District Hospital for treatment.

Marquez said they later recovered the getaway vehicle in the mountain barangay of Solongon of the same town. The vehicle was a van-for-hire.

La Libertad police chief Insp. Edgar Dacosoy was not in the station during the raid as he had just left his office for a command conference set yesterday.

Dacosoy said the station has 26 policemen in all but only nine were on duty at the time of the assault. Two of them were on an errand to bring laptops to the Provincial Police headquarters for the command conference.

Of the seven left at the station, five were inside and while two, including Jopillo, were on patrol.

Marquez is not sure they were NPA rebels because of what one of them said to the police while holding them at bay.

“Di ta kontra kay way abusado nga polis sa La Libertad, armas ra ninyo among tuyo, ang inyo rang amo among kontra, si ‘Josy’ (We are not enemies because there are no abusive policemen in La Libertad, we are only after your guns, it’s your boss ‘Josy’ who is our enemy),” one of them was quoted as saying.

“Josy” is said to mean 1st District Rep. Jocelyn Limkaichong whose husband is La Libertad Mayor Lawrence Limkaichong.

Marquez suspects they are just bandits using the NPA as their cover.

“There are many angles to be investigated, will the NPA take the PNP’s salary? Take their cellphones. Kay ang NPA man gud kung moatake they want to earn ‘pogi points’ sa public, murag Robin Hood ba,” Marquez said.

Police Regional Office-7 director, Chief Supt. Ronald Roderos immediately inspected the area and ordered an investigation into the incident.

Central Command chief Lt. Gen. Pedro Ike Inserto, directed the 303rd Infantry Brigade under Brig. Gen. Josue Gaverza and the 302nd Infantry Brigade under Col. Cesar Yano to conduct pursuit operations of the armed group. – Niña Chrismae G. Sumacot, Edwin Ian Melecio and Syril G. Repe, correspondent/BRP (THE FREEMAN)