5 cops, 5 civilians trapped inside compound rescued

Five policemen trapped in a  compound with five construction workers in fighting between government forces and Islamic State terrorists were rescued on Tuesday.

PO3 Ricky Alawi, 46; PO1 Ibrahim Wahab, 32; PO1 Lumna Lidasan, 44; PO1 Esmael Adao, 34; and PO1 Bernardo Villaries, 52, were taken to the Lanao del Sur Provincial Police Office for  debriefing.

The rescued civilians, two of whom were slightly injured, were identified as Jeneber Velasques, 26; Rodel Alico, 24; Mateo Velasques, 33; Analices Mari, 32, and a 16-year-old boy, all residents of Barangay Gumagamot, Lala town in Lanao del Norte.

Rescued by police

According to reports reaching the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City, the five policemen and the civilians were rescued by joint teams of the Special Action Force and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao-Regional Police Safety Battalion (RPSB).

The five policemen and civilians were rescued at  6:30 a.m. on Tuesday from the Masjid al-Imam Ali compound in Barangay Moncado, Cadingilan, Marawi City.

The civilians were turned over to the custody of the RPSB for treatment and documentation.

Lidasan said he and the other policemen were in their outposts when gunmen from the Maute and Abu Sayyaf terror groups attacked the city on May 23.

He said the village chief took them to his house and told them to hide in the basement with the five civilians.

“We had a chance to get out because we were Muslims, but as policemen it was our duty to protect the people,” Lidasan said.

“We decided to stay because the gunmen would execute the civilians,” he said.

Lidasan said it would have been hard for the gunmen to enter the house because “three of us had [rifles].”

House hit by rockets

Alawi said the group in the basement had seen rockets and bombs exploding on the house’s floor.

He said the basement’s thick concrete walls and ceiling “kept us alive.”

“We were in contact with an Army officer who told us the next target of airstrikes would be our location, so we decided yesterday (Monday) afternoon to leave the basement using the back door,” he said.

Alawi said the group ran to another building under sniper fire.

He said Adao and a civilian were wounded during the escape but he gave no details.

The group stayed in the building during the night and left it at 5 a.m. on Tuesday.

Alawi said that along the way, they were stopped by a lone gunman, who asked the policemen if their companions were Christians.

“I told the gunman that they were Muslims but they could not talk as they were traumatized and still in shock because of the situation,” he said.

“He told us to wait as he would call [his companions], but as soon as he left we ran for it,” he said.

Another cop escaped

On June 4, another policeman, PO2 Khomeini Mamalapat, assigned in the Barangay Patani precinct of the Marawi City police, escaped after being trapped in the police detachment for more than a week.

He was unable to flee when the gunmen from the Maute and Abu Sayyaf terror groups attacked Marawi City on

May 23.

He was able to seek refuge in the Lanao del Sur police station in Lumba-Bayabao town.