23 cops fight off more than 200 NPA rebels

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By AARON RECUENCO

A police captain and 22 of his men fought off more than 200 communist rebels who attacked the Binuangan police station in Misamis Oriental early yesterday morning.

Arriving in trucks, the heavily-armed attackers tried to overrun the police station but met stiff resistance from the policemen who engaged them in a three-hour firefight.



Chief Supt. Timoteo Pacleb, director of the Northern Mindanao regional police, identified the rebels as belonging to units headed by Manuelito Satur, Oscar Romania and Makong Mansigyaw who operate in the eastern part of Mindanao.

“They failed on their attack against the police station and failed to get their firearms and retreated in the hinterlands,” Pacleb added.

Senior Insp. Corinne Mae Estigoy, spokesperson of the Misamis Oiental provincial police, said the attack occurred at around 3 a.m.

“They established blocking forces in three areas near the police station,” said Estigoy.

The rebels are believed to be after the guns and other equipment of the police station.

Recovered from the scene were several containers filled with gasoline.

“There was a plan to set the police station on fire but they were not able to do that because our police forces stood their ground,” said Estigoy.

The attackers may have suffered casualties due to the presence of bloodstains in the escape route, according to Estigoy.

Senior Insp. Dante Hallazgo, the chief of police, were injured along with three of his men – SPO1 Ramonito Zambas, PO3 Alberto Bernadas and PO1 Joshua Satur.

They were hit with shrapnel from an M203 grenade launcher fired by the rebels.

A certain SPO4 Cabil, was also wounded during the attack.

Following the cancellation of the peace talks with the Communist rebels, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has alerted all its units in NPA-infested areas of possible escalation of hostilities.

The attack is the latest of the series of attacks carried out by the communist rebels.

Over the weekend, they killed a policeman and wounded six others in an ambush in Camarines Norte.

The northern and eastern part of Mindanao are considered as NPA infested areas.

Several areas in Luzon and the Visayas are also considered as operational areas of the communist rebels, including Quezon and Batangas areas where 14 communist rebels were recently killed.

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