NPA attacks farm, Army detachment in North Cotabato

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - Communist rebels on Saturday night set on fire two prime mover trucks of a banana farm and fired at a nearby Army detachment in separate attacks in Makilala, North Cotabato.

The police said New People’s Army (NPA) guerillas simultaneously attacked the Dole Stanfilco Cavendish banana farm and the detachment of the Army’s 39^th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Luna Sur, causing panic among villagers.

It was the second NPA attack at the same banana plantation in just two years.

Chief Inspector Elias Colonia of the Makilala municipal police said the NPAs disarmed two of the firm’s security guards and took with them their firearms, a gauge 12 shotgun and a .38 caliber revolver, as they escaped towards a nearby hinterland.

The NPAs who fired assault rifles at the Army detachment nearby scampered away when soldiers returned fire.

Barangay folks are convinced the NPAs attacked the banana farm to force its owner into paying “protection money” on a monthly basis.