Isabela solon in NPA hit list over land row?

CAUAYAN CITY, Isabela — A congressman in this province has reportedly been threatened by the New People’s Army (NPA) for supporting the implementation of a multi-million-peso cassava plantation and flour mill project of industrialist Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco.

Rep. Faustino Dy III of the province’s third district admitted that he has been threatened by the NPA for joining his brother, Isabela Gov. Faustino Dy Jr., in supporting the Cojuangco project.

Governor Dy, who is already in the NPA hit list, has approved the purchase of at least 20 M-16 Armalite rifles for distribution to local officials whose lives are being threatened by the NPA for accommodating the cassava project in their respective localities.

Congressman Dy said that a reliable source confirmed to him that the NPA command here is now mulling over his inclusion in its liquidation list after he formally expressed support for the conversion of at least 100,000 hectares of farmlands into a cassava plantation.

"I don’t know if my name is already in the NPA liquidation list, but I heard my movements are now being watched by the rebels," he said.

The NPA said that the agreement between the Isabela provincial government and Cojuangco’s San Miguel Corp. for the establishment of a cassava plantation and flour mill in Isabela’s Mallig region is another form of "land-grabbing" by the Dys and Cojuangco.

"It is anti-poor and anti-farmer," said Victor Servidores, leader of the local NPA command.

Dy’s other brothers, former Gov. Benjamin Dy, Cauayan City Mayor Caesar Dy, and Cauayan barangay leader president Victor Dy, are also included in the hit list of the NPA’s Fortunato Camos Command for their alleged anti-people stance.

A political ally of the Dys, Jones Mayor Jesus Sebastian, was slain by the NPA’s Benito Tesorio Command inside the town’s municipal hall last April 22.

The Isabela solon said that the alleged NPA threats would not deter him from continuing to support his governor-brother.

"If my support for a development project spells my inclusion in the NPA hit list and eventually cost my life, so be it," Congressman Dy said.

The Dys contend that the project intends to convert thousands of hectares of idle lands in the Mallig region into productive ones. Congressman Dy said that the project would directly benefit more than 3,00 families engaged in small-scale rice and form farming and generate at least 10,000 jobs.

The assassination of Sebastian has impelled the Isabela provincial government to purchase high-powered rifles to enable threatened local officials to fight the NPA threat.

"We have to arm ourselves to fight the NPA. We can no longer afford to lose another mayor," Governor Dy said.