Communist rebels raided a police station in Balangkayan town, Eastern Samar on Monday night and escaped with 17 firearms, laptops and personal belongings of policemen.
The five policemen on duty were overpowered by at least 20 armed rebels who barged into the police station around 7:30 p.m., said Senior Supt. Romeo Campomanes, police director of Eastern Samar.
Balangkayan, about 158 km from Tacloban City, with a population of more than 10,000 spread in 15 barangays, has 22 policemen.
Campomanes said the first group of armed men in shorts went inside the police station, brandished their handguns and identified themselves as members of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of Communist Party of the Philippines.
Then a second group of men went inside the police station, all carrying high-powered firearms, said Campomanes.
The rebels then told the five policemen on duty to drop to the ground as they ransacked the armory and took 16 M16 rifles and one shotgun from the armory.
They also seized two laptops, uniforms and personal belongings of policemen.
The five policemen on duty were SPO4 Montero, PO3 Opriasaya, PO1 Azura, PO1 Globio and PO1 Buenafe.
The town police chief, Senior Inspector Gilberto Polima, was not around during the raid.
From the police station, the armed men then fled toward Barangays (villages) Balogo and Tigbao, both interior villages of the Balangkayan. An investigation was being conducted to determine if the policemen committed lapses at the time of the raid.