Ten policemen and their civilian assistants were having breakfast in their station in Escalante City when a group of rebels from the communist New People's Army (NPA) barged in, held them at gunpoint, and made off with seven rifles, an M60 machinegun and a pistol, police reports said.

There was no violence and no one was hurt in the incident, which was confirmed by NPA sources in Negros island.

The 8,000-strong NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, which has been waging a 37-year Maoist insurgency. They have recently stepped up attacks on rural police stations and businesses, robbing them of weapons and money.