Sunday, January 12, 2014

30 heavily armed men attack security outpost, abduct one in Pampanga

From the Business Mirror (Jan 12): 30 heavily armed men attack security outpost, abduct one in Pampanga

SOME 30 heavily armed men attacked during dawn on Sunday the security outpost of a joint venture of a private land developer, wounding two security guards and abducting one person in Sitio Upper Balukbok, Barangay Hacienda Dolores, Pampanga.

An initial police report said the attackers were members of the Aniban ng mga Magsasaka ng Hacienda Dolores, a group allied with left-leaning group Alyansa ng mga Magsasaka sa Gitnang Luzon (AMGL), a regional chapter of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.

Aniban is a group of about 100 informal settler-families the private developer had been trying to relocate.

Contacted through his mobile phone, Pampanga Police Director Senior Supt. Oscar Albayalde could not immediately give the names of the victims, but said members of the Special Weapons and Tactics were already in the area to go after the abductors.

An initial report from the security office of the LLL Holdings Inc. said the attackers were allegedly led by Ener Tolentino, son of Barangay Captain Antonio Tolentino and president of Aniban.

Witnesses placed the young Tolentino as being armed with an M-14 assault rifle, with the majority of his men also armed with long and short firearms, while the rest were armed with bolos.

“The armed men overwhelmed our team of security guards at the outpost and one of the suspects shot and wounded one of the guards. Tolentino’s group mauled another guard and forcibly dragged him as they left the place,” said Felizardo Clark Jr., the company’s security officer.

“I was there and one of them also fired his gun at me. Buti na lamang at daplis lang sa mukha ang tinamo ko. We have no recourse but to withdraw dahil marami sila at may dalang mahahabang armas at pinutukan na kami,” Clark said.

Before the attack, AMGL leader Joseph Canlas had met with the president and members of Aniban, led by Antonio Tolentino in the said barangay, where they allegedly hatched the plan to attack the outpost.

Clark said Canlas might have agitated the Aniban to resort to violence against the developer.

He said on January 9, the armed group of Antonio Tolentino also tried but failed to forcibly enter the property in Sitio Gubat and was repulsed by the blue guards.

Clark said prior to the incident, blue guards had arrested on January 7 Ener Tolentino for trespassing and caught in the act of charcoal-making inside the prohibited fenced property.

Tolentino’s case of qualified trespassing and other related violations were reportedly under preliminary investigation before the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office.

http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php/en/news/regions/25822-30-heavily-armed-men-attack-security-outpost-abduct-one-in-pampanga

1 comment:

  1. All of the groups mentioned in this article are known or suspected Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) front organizations. The article highlights the relationships among these front groups. Aniban ng mga Magsasaka ng Hacienda Dolores (ANIBAN-Association of Farmers of Hacienda Delores) is a member of the Alyansa ng mga Magsasaka sa Gitnang Luzon (AMGL- Alliance of Farmers in Central Luzon) which in turn is a member of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.(KMP-Peasant Movement of the Philippines). And the KMP is a founding member of the main CPP umbrella front organization Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN-New Patriotic Alliance). These groups are suspected of having clandestine ties to the military wing of the CPP, the New People's Army (NPA).

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