Reds storm Leyte police station

TACLOBAN CITY — Some 30 communist guerrillas raided Friday night the police station of the Leyte town of Albuera, carting away 21 M-16 Armalite rifles and nine caliber .38 revolvers.

No firefight ensued between the four policemen on duty that night and the rebels belonging to the Amandawing Command of the New People’s Army’s North Leyte Front Committee.

Maj. Gen. Bonifacio Ramos, commanding officer of the Army’s 8th Infantry Division, told The STAR that the four policemen were caught unawares by the NPA rebels who arrived at about 7 p.m. on board two L-300 vans.

Reports said the policemen were having dinner when the insurgents cut off power to their station, located inside the municipal hall compound.

When the rebels barged in, they were quoted as saying, "Hapa! Hapa! Armas ray amo tuyo! Mga NPA mi! (Drop down! We only want your firearms! We are NPAs!)"

They then tied up P02 Jackson Sivila and SPO2 Diosdado Papellero, and ransacked the entire place of firearms.

Ramos said the Albuera policemen failed to defend the police station when two of them were bodily harmed by the rebels when they attempted to fire their guns.

"Hindi na kasi sila nakakilos kasi nga na-caught unawares sila. Binugbog pa an dala sa kanilang naka-duty na police. Fortunately walang nang—yaring barilan (They failed to do anything because they were caught unawares. Two of them were even beaten up. Fortunately, no firefight occurred)," Ramos said.

Reports said the rebels burned tires and scattered rocks and other debris on the road to slow down any pursuing policemen or soldiers.

Police said the rebels also put up barricades at the foot of the bridges in Sitios Lutao and Kuyag-ang, which lead to Ormoc City and Baybay town, respectively.

Albuera town, more than five kilometers away from Ormoc City, is considered by the military as an NPA-infiltrated area.

Chief Superintendent Eliseo de la Paz, Eastern Visayas police director, belied reports that SPO2 Joel Pallalete, one of the four policemen on duty during the NPA raid, was missing or had been seized by the rebels.

De la Paz, who immediately went to Albuera town upon learning about the incident, said he would not relieve Senior Inspector Rodolfo Lomot as Albuera police chief despite what happened.

He, however, said they will investigate whether the Albuera police had been lax on security.

"No, we will not relieve him, but we will find out what really transpired during the attack," he said.

Because of the incident, De la Paz called on police units across Eastern Visayas to be extra vigilant and always be prepared for any NPA attacks.

He assured the people of Eastern Visayas that the authorities are still on top of the situation.

The last NPA attack in the region occurred on March 18, 2004 when some 100 NPA guerrillas stormed the police station of San Jose de Buan, Samar, leaving four lawmen and two civilians wounded. Four rebels were killed in the ensuing firefight. — With Jaime Laude and AP