Davao City, Philippines - Suspected communist rebels on Tuesday seized three policemen in an attack on a gold mining area in the southern Philippines, police said.

The suspects also burned a government-owned dump truck in the gold-rush area on Mount Diwalwal in Monkayo town in Compostela Valley province, 945 kilometres south of Manila, police said.

The abducted officers were members of a police unit in Mount Diwalwal, said Senior Inspector Rodolfo Pascua, town police chief.

They were identified as Rogelio Etrata, Jerry Realino and Hector Culaste.

Diwalwal village Captain Francisco Tito said the suspected rebels seized the three as they were setting up a roadblock on the way to the mining area.

The gunmen then burned the dump truck owned by the Philippine Mining Development Corp, a state-owned company overseeing mining operations in the area.

Tito said authorities suspect communist rebels were behind the attack because in the past they have abducted government forces in the 769-hectare gold-rush site on Mount Diwalwal.

The guerrillas are known to collect "revolutionary taxes" from mining firms on Diwalwal as part of their efforts to raise funds for their activities. (dpa)