TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan – Still unknown suspects burned an equipment van of Smart Telecommunications here over the weekend, authorities said yesterday.
Police said that Smart workers in Gonzaga town, around three hours from this capital, discovered their mobile equipment van parked near their telecommunication tower already on fire about 1 a.m. Saturday.
As a result, the signal of the Smart tower was cut off in the areas of Gonzaga, Santa Ana, Santa Teresita and Buguey towns, and only was restored a day after the incident.
The incident, police opined, could have been done on purpose by individuals affected by the recent retrenchment of a number of Smart workers in the area.
“A week ago, they (Smart) have workers who were fired out in the area. Also, some of their employees had received threats,” said Chief Inspector Rexmer Reyes of the Gonzaga police office.
Authorities, however, could not discount other possible suspects in the incident, the second to take place in the province involving a private telecommunication facility in less than a month.
Smart executives denied reports some of their workers received threats over plans to have their equipment burned or destroyed.
Earlier, a Globe Telecoms cell site tower in one of the province’s central towns was burned by armed men believed to be New People’s Army rebels. This was followed by a similar incident involving, also Globe facilities in neighboring Kalinga province.