Extortion threats from 'rebel' alarm Tacloban businessmen

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 1): Extortion threats from 'rebel' alarm Tacloban businessmen

A group of businessmen confirmed recent extortion threats in this city from a person claiming to be a member of the New People’s Army (NPA).

Wilson Uy, president of Tacloban-Leyte chapter of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said on Wednesday that business owners had been receiving threatening calls since early May from someone claiming to be to be a communist rebel demanding for money.

A lot of businessmen fear that something bad may happen to them if they won’t give in to demands, Uy said in an interview.

The suspect, who would introduce himself as Ronald, has been using different mobile phone numbers in making the calls. p>The police has yet to release information on how many people have reported the threats or if there’s any money paid out.

City police chief Sr. Supt. Rolando Bade, Jr., believes there is no reason for businessmen in the city to panic. “In most cases we have investigated, it has been found that the calls came from one person only and there’s a possibility that he is not really an NPA, but someone who just pretended to be one,” Bade said in an interview.

For Uy, whether the caller is a rebel or not, the wave of alarm and fear cannot be denied. However, he asked his fellow businessmen to remain calm and vigilant.

“We are training our businessmen here in the city how to handle extortion calls. We want those victims and potential victims to know how to protect themselves and to understand what to do if they are being targeted,” Bade said.

The city police, needs public cooperation by immediately reporting extortion incident and share information that would lead to the arrest of suspects, said the police official.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/992595