Marawi City (CNN Philippines, June 13) — After three weeks of being caught behind enemy lines, five policemen and five civilians walk to freedom and live to tell how they were able to escape from the besieged city of Marawi.
One of the police officers, PO1 Lumna Lidasan, broke into tears on Tuesday as he recalled how he and four other Maranao policemen decided to protect five Christians workers they were with.
Lidasan said they could not bear leaving the civilians behind.
While in hiding, he said they witnessed the harrowing images of war: burning houses and buildings in Barangay Moncado Kadingilan. They managed to communicate with other policemen and rescuers by saving the battery of a mobile phone.
On Monday afternoon, they decided to flee. But while running for their lives, they said Maute members fired at them — hitting one of the civilians in the leg.
After that, they continued to flee and until they found a house where they stayed overnight. The next morning, they ran again until they reached Bangolo Bridge where government forces were on standby.
Related: Amid fighting, PH flag hoisted in Marawi on Independence Day
When they were brought to the Lanao Del Sur Provincial Police Headquarters later in the afternoon, it was a tearful reunion with hugs and kisses from their families and colleagues.
Jamera Wahab was not able to contain her happiness when she saw her husband, PO1 Ibrahim Wahab.
Jamera said their 4-year-old son Almahid had been asking about his father.
She had to lie to the boy. But eventually, Jamera said their son figured out where his father was from watching the news.
The group of escapees had better luck than the five civilians killed in a separate incident, according to the military on Tuesday. The victims were among the 18 people who had tried to run out the back door of a house in the war-torn city. Eight of them were taken hostage while the other five were rescued by government troops.
Meanwhile, the five police officers said they would be spending time with their families but would eventually return to the battlefield until Marawi was freed from lawless elements.
CNN Philippines’ Gerg Cahiles contributed to this report.
