Three Philippine policemen and two rebels of the anti-government New People's Army (NPA) were killed in a clash in Davao Oriental, Mindanao, early Saturday morning, reported the local ABS-CBN News television network.

Provincial police chief Catalino Cuy said that policemen were sent after receiving reports that from 10 to 15 NPA guerrillas were sighted in the area, said the report.

The rebels fled after the clash, taking with them the bodies ofthe two slain rebels as well as the weapons of the killed policemen, said the report.

The NPA is the military wing of the outlawed Communist Party ofthe Philippines with an estimated force of 8,000, most of them based in rural areas.

(Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2004)