From GMA News (Mar 5): Armed men torch ten-wheeler truck in Cotabato
Unidentified armed men set fire on a heavy equipment parked near the quarry site in Barangay Estado in Matalam town in Cotabato on Tuesday, police investigator said.
Police Chief Inspector Elias Colonia, Matalam chief of police in his report to provincial police office said at least four people armed with high-powered firearms approach the driver of the ten-wheeler truck and ordered him to leave the place.
Before leaving, the suspects confiscated the driver’s mobile phone and poured gasoline on the vehicle before setting it on fire. The incident took place at about 2 p.m., Colonia added.
Also, he said the ten-wheeler truck was owned by the Better Works Construction based in Sultan Kudarat and was commissioned by the private construction firm in North Cotabato.
Colonia however refused to divulge the name of the construction firm that was believed to be owned by a relative of a politician in the province.
The damage on vehicle was pegged at P1.2 million, Colonia said.
Suspects, he said, withdrew in the direction of nearby Barangay La Esperanza in President Roxas town.
Police are still investigating the motive for the attack and the people behind it.
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/351148/news/nation/armed-men-torch-ten-wheeler-truck-in-cotabato
Most likely this is the work of the Maoist New People's Army. Burning of construction equipment or other corporate assets is the modes operandi of the NPA. Attacks of this kind are usually meant to send a message to company owners to comply with the extortion demands of the insurgents.
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