NPA rebels torch construction equipment in Agusan del Norte

MANILA, Philippines - Communist rebels in Agusan del Norte torched on Wednesday two construction equipment owned by a local official who refused to pay revolutionary tax, the military said.

First Lieutenant Joe Martinez, chief of the 42nd civil-military operations company, said the rebels burned one dump truck and one mixer in Barangay Curva in Santiago town at about 1 a.m.

Martinez said the atrocity occurred after the owner of the equipment, Misamis Occidental Vice Governor Henry Oaminal, had refused to yield to the extortion demands of the rebels.

Local policemen and members of the 3rd Special Forces Battalion are now probing the incident and are now running after the suspects.

“The damage could have been worse if not (for) the information from the residents who texted us regarding the presence of the said armed group in their community,” said Lt. Col. Potenciano Camba, chief of the 3rd Special Forces Battalion.

“The heavy equipment were slightly damaged after we have immediately extinguished the fire. This only shows that the NPA (New People’s Army) no longer have the support of the people in the area,” he added.