By RUBY P. SILUBRICO and CYRUS GARDE
ESCALANTE City — Members of the New People’s Army (NPA) destroyed various equipment and properties of a sugar central in Escalante City, Negros Occidental, authorities said.
A huge explosion rocked the sugarcane transloading station of the Lopez Sugar Milling Corp. in Sitio Sta. Ana, Brgy. Mabini, at around 9:45 p.m. on Sunday.
It was caused by an improvised explosive device, which destroyed the company’s crane, said Supt. Alex Batiles, the city police chief.
The weighing scale platform and the core laboratory were also ruined, while a Fuso hauler truck was damaged after the perpetrators fired at it, Batiles.
At least 25 members of the NPA’s Northern Negros Front were allegedly involved.
They also disarmed the milling company’s security guards, Alexis Batayin and Nelson Jardinero, and took from them a 12-gauge shotgun with 20 rounds of ammunition and two handheld radios.
Authorities said the suspects told the security guards that the sugar central and its owner “owed” them, before escaping.
Sources said the attacking rebel group, comprising mostly women armed with M16 and AK-47 rifles, was led by “alias Calay.” It fled toward the hinterlands west of this city.
Elements of Regional Public Safety Battalion based in Brgy. Libertad here chased the suspects but failed to catch them.
The extent of damage caused by the bombing was yet to be known as of this writing.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Escalante City police station and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit were thoroughly investigating the incident and mobilizing units to arrest the suspects.
Investigating teams believe that the rebels attacked the milling company for its failure to pay them “revolutionary tax.”
The affected property is owned by the Ballesteros family.
The incident happened more than a year after a compound of a mining company in Negros Occidental was also attacked by rebels.
On May 3 last year, NPA members raided the Philex Mining Corp. compound in Brgy. Camindangan, Sipalay City, for not giving revolutionary tax.
They burned down two employee bunkhouses, a tractor with drilling machine, a generator set and the workers’ personal belongings.
Meanwhile, Major General Aurelio Baladad, commander of the Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, said the rebels’ continued disregard of the law shows their desperation in countering government efforts to bring peace and development to the countryside.
Again, he said, they were calling on the rebels to “lay down their arms, abandon the armed struggle, live a peaceful life and join us in peacefully resolving armed conflict.”
Baladad also urged those “deceived by the rebels” to “follow the path of peace and condemn those who advocate violence and use arms against civilians.”
He assured that the Army in Western Visayas will “continue to protect, especially the hapless civilians who have been victims of extortion and other lawless activities of the rebels.”/PN
