Camp Bancasi, Butuan City – Heavily armed men swooped down on a banana plantation early Friday and set ablaze portable banana processors and buildings in Barangay Casisang, Malaybalay City in Bukidnon, a report reaching this camp said on Saturday.
An initial report said the men, armed with automatic rifles and handguns, arrived at 12:20 a.m. on Friday, and proceeded to burn the portable processors and buildings of the banana plantation.
The plantation is reportedly owned by DOLE Philippines.
After setting on fire the said facilities, the perpetrators immediately fled to nearby upper Casisang mountainous area of that same agricultural city of Malaybalay.
No one was reported harmed among the workers of DOLE Philippines.
Banana processors are used for cleaning, grading and in the selection process of bananas before they are packed.
DOLE Philippines is still validating and assessing the exact amount of damaged facilities.
“We cannot still determine as of this time the identities of the perpetrators or group doing this terroristic act and even the motive of this incident,” said 403rd Infantry Brigade Civil Military Operations officer Capt. Norman Tagros, in a phone interview with The Manila Bulletin on Saturday.
However, he said there are bandits, extortionists and New People’s Army (NPA) rebels known to operate in the area, that have harassed business and local folk in the past.
“We cannot still determine the real motive and identities of the arsonists on pre-dawn attack on Friday,” stressed the 403rd CMO officer.
He said the Malaybalay City Police Station is still conducting a thorough investigation on the said incident while combat maneuvering troops of the 1st Special Forces Battallion (1st SFB) are still pursuing the fleeing perpetrators who reportedly ran away toward the upper Casisang of that same city.
Col. Eric C. Vinoya, commanding officer of the 403rd Infantry Brigade, also ordered the deployment of more combat maneuvering troops to augment the pursuing troops of the 1stSFB in Casisang area, he added.
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