MANILA, Philippines -- At least 10 armed men in military uniform barged into St. Scholastica’s College in Manila past midnight Friday but failed to enter the building as policemen quickly responded to distress calls, police said.

Superintendent Ferdinand Quirante, Station 9 commander of the Manila Police District, said the 10 “heavily armed men in SWAT, camouflage, and police uniforms” were able to enter gate 1 of the school at 1:25 a.m. by “poking firearms at the guards manning the gate” and disarming them.

Concerned citizens called police, which dispatched mobile units to the scene, he added.

The suspects fled using gate 4 of the college along Estrada Avenue.

“The suspects were not able to enter the school building, preventing loss of school properties,” he added.

Police were also able to recover a still unidentified number of firearms from the scene.

In a phone interview, Sister Mary John Mananzan, OSB, Mother Prioress of St. Scholastica's Priory, said the armed men were on board two vans.

Mananzan said school officials have yet to release an official statement on the incident pending police investigation.