Armed men believed to be extortionist carjacked a dump truck owned by a private construction firm in a remote village here on Tuesday night and torched it in adjacent village, police said.
Senior Inspector Ronnie Cordero, Tulunan police chief, said the dump truck driven by Leoncio de Vera and loaded with sand was heading to Mlang,
Upon reaching Kilometer 25, Barangay La Esperanza, Tulunan, one of two hitchhikers pulled a handgun and ordered de Vera to divert the vehicle heading toward the border of Tulunan and Makilala, both infested by New People's Army (NPA) guerrillas.
Few kilometers later, the two men ordered de Vera to alight and commandeered the vehicle to Makilala. De Vera reported the incident to Tulunan PNP.
He was not harmed, Cordero said.
The truck was later found to have been torched by the suspects, believed to be extortionists.
"We are still investigating the incident," Cordero said, adding that investigators are looking at extortion as possible motive.
But he said the construction firm did not complain of any extortion attempt from any group in the province.
The truck was owned by Lao construction company which is constructing part of the Mlang airport in Barangay Tawan-Tawan, Mlang,
No one has claimed responsibility.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=603030
In the past, incidents like this have been associated with the Maoist New People's Army (NPA), the military wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). The burning of equipment by the insurgents is usually meant to encourage companies to comply with the their demand for payment of "revolutionary taxes," a euphemism for extortion/protection money.
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