NPA rebels attack Albay cement plant

LEGAZPI CITY — Communist guerrillas torched an office building in a late-night raid last Friday on a cement plant owned by a Taiwanese-Filipino consortium in Camalig, Albay, the military said.

Some 50 New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas stormed the compound of the Goodfound Cement Corp. in Barangay Palanog at about 9:30 p.m. after overpowering its 11 private security guards, regional Army chief Col. Pedrito Magsino said.

After handcuffing the security guards, the rebels herded several employees of the firm, including five Taiwanese men, into a nearby school and torched the plant’s main offices.

The gunmen fled, carting away seven shotguns and seven caliber .38 revolvers owned by the security guards and some P35,000, Magsino said.

At about noon, Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Tor, Bicol police director, said eight rebels went to Barangay Palanog chairman Glen Naparam to broker with Goodfound administrative head Carlito Aparis the payment of "revolutionary tax." But Aparis was reportedly nowhere to be found.

Magsino said the attack could be part of the rebels’ "psychological war" on soft targets to prove their ability to launch attacks despite losses in the field.

The NPA is the armed wing of the underground Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), which has come under government pressure since the United States and the European Union declared both groups terrorist organizations.

Troops were dispatched to pursue the rebels, Magsino said.

Albay Gov. Al Francis Bichara said the attacks could be meant "to relay the message to authorities that they can still paralyze operations of industries" in the region.

Goodfound is a multimillion-peso Taiwanese-Filipino joint venture and a major producer of cement in eastern Philippines.

In another development, three suspected NPA hit men gunned down the president of a non-governmental organization in Taytay, Rizal the other day.

Police said Mario Santos, 41, president of the Samahang Nagkakaisang Maralita ng Javier, was on his way home when the gunmen blocked his path at about 8 p.m.

The men introduced themselves as NPA rebels, shouted at witnesses not to intervene and then shot Santos. They left behind a list of alleged corruption cases against Santos. — Celso Amo, Cet Dematera, Non Al—quitran and AFP