CAMP GENERAL VICENTE LIM, Laguna – Seventy suspected New People’s Army rebels disguised as government soldiers raided the police station of San Narciso town in Quezon Sunday afternoon and successfully carted away firearms and office supplies, officials said Monday.

Chief Supt. Perfecto Palad, Police Regional Office (PRO) 4-A director, said five women introduced themselves as media practitioners while accompanied by heavily armed men wearing military uniforms before the ten-minute raid was staged.

The women initially talked to the duty officer at around 4 p.m. Sunday before their armed companions suddenly disarmed the policemen at the station.

“They talked with the duty policeman and suddenly the armed back up communist rebels rushed and initiated the raid against eight policemen inside the police station,” said Palad, adding that more rebels then rushed into the station aboard two vans.

The rebels carted away five M16 rifles, four 9mm pistols, four shotguns, one caliber .38 revolver, ammunitions, a computer hard drive, three mobile phones, police uniforms and P30,000 in cash.

The rebels left after ten minutes and fled towards the village of Buenavista.

After the incident, the Quezon Police Provincial Office conducted hot pursuit in coordination with soldiers in the area that led to the recovery of three getaway vehicles.

A gray Mitsubishi van with license plate number THH 115 was recovered in Barangay Buenavista. A yellow Hyundai Grace (XVF 529) registered to Arnold Florentino of Calumaguin, Gumaca, Quezon and another Hyundai Grace (WTZ 288) registered to Jenny Villarosa of Mayao Crossing, Lucena City were later recovered in Mulanay, Quezon.

Palad declared a full alert status in the CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) region after the raid, and checkpoints have been established in anticipation of more rebel attacks as the founding anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the NPA on December 26 nears.

The entire San Narciso police force headed by Inspector Marcelino Uy had been relieved by Palad and was replaced by eleven members of the PNP Regional Mobile Group and nine from the Police Provincial Mobile Group.

Inspector Marcelino Platino is now the acting chief of police of San Narciso, Palad told the Manila Bulletin.

Palad said the 20 original members of the San Narciso police will undergo re-training and pre-charge evaluation for possible lapses and violations of police operational procedure.

Palad added that the security evaluation of other vulnerable police stations in CALABARZON is being reviewed.

PNP Director General Jesus Verzosa also placed all police units in Luzon in a heightened alert status.

“All PNP units in Luzon were placed under heightened alert condition to ensure operational readiness to respond to possible threats in anticipation of possible hostile actions of the communist New People's Army in commemoration of the founding anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines on December 26,” he said.

A full alert status means cancellation of all leaves of absence, intensified intelligence gathering and police visibility. Heightened alert, on the other hand, means at least 50 percent of all police personnel are required to stay in their posts.

“Based on historical records, the CPP/NPA has been known to mount hostile activities in celebration of the CPP anniversary on December 26,” said Verzosa.  “These offensive activities include ‘show of force’ and other high-profile actions to gain propaganda mileage.”

The government traditionally declares a suspension of military offensives against the NPA during the Yuletide season, to which the rebels sometimes reciprocate by declaring their own suspension of offensives. The government has yet to declare a truce for this year