Police authorities in
Chief Insp. Reynaldo Denila, Alabel municipal police station chief, said Wednesday around 50 heavily-armed rebels stormed a road construction site in Barangay Bagacay in Alabel town at about noon and torched a grader and backhoe owned by private firm Vicente Lao Construction.
He said the construction company was sub-contracted by the Department of Public Works and Highways to implement the concreting of a road connecting the town proper of Alabel to the outskirt
Denila said the firm’s workers were working on a portion of the road project in the area when the rebels came and immediately ordered them at gunpoint to stop their activities.
The workers were then directed to lay face down on the ground as the rebels proceeded to pour gasoline on the two heavy equipment and later set them on fire, he said.
He said the rebels, who were reportedly led by a certain Kumander Yoyong of the NPA’s Guerilla Front Committee 75, then fired several shots before fleeing towards the mountainous portions of the area.
Citing results of their initial investigation, he said the construction firm had reportedly received numerous threats from the rebels prior to the attack.
Denila said company workers admitted that the NPA has long been trying to collect revolutionary taxes from their owner.
“Based on the information we received, the company has repeatedly refused to give in to their (NPA) demands,” he said.
As a result of the attack, the company has temporarily suspended the implementation of the road project to ensure the security and safety of their workers.
Troops from the Army’s 1002nd Infantry Brigade have been deployed on Wednesday to secure the area and launch pursuit operations against the rebels.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=564589
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