TACLOBAN CITY — Three members of the New People’s Army (NPA) were killed when they attempted to overrun a police station in Victoria, Northern Samar early Thursday.
The 50 armed rebels, mostly women clad in military fatigue uniforms with yellow headbands, failed to seize the police station when they launched an attack at about 3:30 a.m., the Police Regional Office 8 (Eastern Visayas) reported.
“The 15 policemen on duty led by Police Lt. Eladio Alo, Victoria town chief of police, were able to defend the police station and put up a firefight with the communist terrorists by occupying the rooftop of their station,” PRO-8 said in a press statement.
Two policemen were slightly wounded by shrapnel during the three-hour gun battle that ended at about 6:40 a.m. They are Police Senior Master Sgt. Arturo Gordo and Police Master Sgt. Arnold Cabacang.
A young NPA member was also arrested by the police after the firefight while they recovered two firearms.
The NPA unit, which has jurisdiction in the area, is under section committee 2, sub-regional committee emporium of the Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee, headed by Ranie Cabides, according to the police.
Victoria, a fifth class town in Northern Samar, is about 238 km. north of Tacloban, the regional capital.
The NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union.