NPA launches attacks during Asean
Raids police station, kills cop, seizes another
TUGUEGARAO – As the country hosted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Manila, New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas launched attacks in the countryside, assaulting a police station in Quirino province and killing a police officer on Saturday night.
Reports said at least 100 rebels belonging to the NPA’s Venerando Villacillo Command assaulted the Maddela police station to spring a comrade detained at the station.
Police Officer 2 Jerome Cardenas, court processing officer, was killed during the attack, according to Quirino police director Senior Superintendent Merwin Cuarteros.
Earlier Saturday, the NPA also attacked three facilities of Lapanday Foods Corp. in President Duterte’s turf, Davao City, torching trucks and equipment and seizing the guns of security guards.
The guerrillas, wearing camouflage uniforms, arrived in the station in two vans, a sport utility vehicle and a truck.
As they alighted from the vehicles, the rebels reportedly shouted, “Maki-coordinate kami, kayo ang totokhangin namin (We will coordinate, we will shoot you).” A burst of gunfire followed.
The rebels disarmed Inspector Resty Derupe and the three guards on duty before killing Cardenas.
Armed with crowbars, some guerrillas destroyed the lock of the detention cell and told the inmates to escape.
“We were so scared. We did not go out,” an inmate said.
The detainees thought the rebels were Army soldiers and asked among themselves why the raiders were fighting with the police.
The rebels took two computer laptops and a set of police camouflage uniforms.
They seized Senior Police Officer 4 Antonio Siriban and escaped in the station’s Toyota Hilux and Mahindra service vehicles.
Siriban and the vehicles were abandoned in remote Barangay Cabua-an.
The fleeing rebels also torched construction equipment owned by a private company in Barangay San Pedro.
Chief Inspector Jhun-Jhun Balisi, Maddela police chief, was not around during the attack that occurred at around 10:30 p.m.
Journalists obtained a hand-written statement on the attack supposedly sent by the NPA.
The statement, signed NPAQuirino, reportedly stated that the offensive was a response to the people’s clamor for justice against the supposed violation by the government of the rights of the farmers and tribal folk.
A text message received by journalists stated the NPA took 13 firearms from the station.