In South Cotabato, meanwhile, soldiers are pursuing the abductors of businessman Leonardo Buenafe, who was snatched in Noralla, South Cotabato the other day.
The military believes that the kidnappers have brought Buenafe to Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao where police found his silver Honda CRV hours after the abduction.
Authorities said NPA rebels took Jose Ocmin, chairman of Barangay Tuyago here, as "human shield" as they fled to the mountains after torching two payloaders and a prime mover owned by the Butuan City-based Pascual Construction.
The guerrillas, they said, resorted to arson after the construction company allegedly failed to pay "revolutionary taxes."
Reports said the rebels, numbering about 50, snatched Ocmin when they chanced upon him while fleeing.
The body of Ocmin, which bore multiple gunshot wounds, was found at the boundary of Barangay Bangonay.
In Maguindanao, Maj. Gen. Generoso Senga, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said more than a dozen military agents have been fielded in Shariff Aguak and nearby towns to help the provincial police locate Buenafe and his abductors.
Army and police intelligence sources said the abductors of Buenafe, whose family owns a rice and corn mill in Noralla, a booming agricultural town in South Cotabato, could be disgruntled members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
The separatist rebels, they said, probably wanted to raise money to sustain their activities in Central Mindanao.
Senga said Buenafe was last seen on his way to Koronadal City from the town proper of Noralla last Monday. His silver Honda CRV was found abandoned along a critical stretch of the national highway in Barangay Maitum-a-ig in Shariff Aguak.
While Army intelligence agents are convinced that Buenafe was kidnapped, Senga said they are confused why several sachets of shabu were found inside his vehicle.
Soldiers also recovered from the abandoned vehicle Buenafe’s firearm license, permit to carry a firearm outside his residence, a syringe and cotton balls soaked in alcohol.
The Maguindanao peace and order council, chaired by Gov. Datu Andal Ampatuan, mobilized yesterday dozens of civilian volunteers to help track down Buenafe’s captors.
Engineer Norie Unas, provincial administrator and Ampatuan’s spokesman, said mayors of the neighboring towns of Shariff Aguak, Mamasapano, Talayan and Datu Piang, all in the second district, have also been tapped to assist in the hunt.
Unas, however, said Buenafe’s vehicle could have been abandoned in Shariff Aguak to mislead the authorities. "We are not certain yet if he was indeed brought to Maguindanao," he said.