GMA orders arrest of NPA tax collectors at Mt. Diwalwal

DAVAO CITY — President Arroyo ordered yesterday the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to identify and arrest members of the New People’s Army (NPA) tasked to collect revolutionary taxes from miners operating in Mt. Diwalwal, Monkayo, Compostela Valley.

"If that is the main role of the NPAs in Mt. Diwalwal, then the main role of the AFP is to determine and identity the collectors and arrest them," the President told military commanders present during yesterday’s briefing held here at the Apo View Hotel.

The President lamented how communist rebels were able to collect a sizeable amount from miners and yet the government gets only a measly amount from the mining operations.

"This is the Republic of the Philippines. It is the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) that should collect taxes and not the NPA," the President added.

The government has reportedly earned only P50 million from the 85-15 percent sharing scheme implemented in the mining site since 2002 while the communist rebels were getting billions from the miners since mining operations in Mt. Diwalwal started in the early 1980s.

Mrs. Arroyo ordered AFP Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan to improve military intelligence networks in Mt. Diwalwal to immediately effect the arrest of NPA tax collectors.

Mrs. Arroyo also wants to speed up the probe on last week’s explosion inside the Sunshine portal of the tunnel owned by JB Management Corp. in Mt. Diwalwal’s Purok 22 that claimed the lives of 11 miners.

There have been conflicting claims on the actual number of casualties in the explosion but the Philippine National Police (PNP) Region XI placed the death toll at 11 while 13 others are still trapped inside the tunnel. Eleven others were earlier rescued.

But Mt. Diwalwal village chief Franco Tito earlier said the number of victims could reach more than 50 as there were more people inside the tunnel when the explosion occured.

Mrs. Arroyo also instructed Presidential Assistant for Mindanao National Task Force Diwalwal to immediately convene the National Task Force Diwalwal to look into the concerns of the miners in the area.

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who is also the chairman of the Regional Peace and Order Council, stressed that as soon as the investigation on the recent explosion is completed, measures should be taken to ensure that the interest of the government is protected.

"Two weeks from now, we hope to fully enforce what is fair for everybody in Mt. Diwalwal. This is for the government to come in strong," Duterte said.

The President ordered the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to immediately work on the relocation of at least 130 families living in high-risk areas in Mt. Diwalwal.