60 Marawi cops missing?

LANAO DEL SUR, Philippines – At least 60 policemen in Marawi City have been reported missing since Maute gunmen attacked villages in the city on May 23. 

Families of the missing policemen confirmed to The STAR on Monday that they have yet to contact their loved ones.

 “We are worried. There is no news about them until now. Their superiors do not want to announce that they are missing,” a relative of one of the policemen said.

 Sources from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) police said Camp Crame officials have been monitoring developments in efforts to locate the policemen.

“We’ve been told that everything is being done to locate them,” a brother of one of the policemen said. 

One of the policeman reportedly sent a text message to his colleague, saying he is hiding in one of the houses occupied by the militants.  

However, Superintendent Marlon Tayaba, ground commander in Marawi, said all policemen had been accounted and are helping in clearing, rescue and retrieval operations.

“I’m not aware that there are a number of policemen who failed to report for duty because as far as Marawi is concerned, all policemen were accounted for,” Tayaba said.

Chief Superintendent Theodore Sindac, ARMM police director, earlier said policemen were ordered to adopt the buddy system for their safety.

Sindac said those who failed to report for duty could have been stranded, noting that many roads had been destroyed in the fighting between government troops and Maute militants.

There were speculations that Senior Superintent Oscar Nantes was relieved as Lanao del Sur police director after he failed to account for the missing policeman.