Suspected NPA members set fire on backhoe of mining company in Palawan

From the Philippine News Agency (Dec 10): Suspected NPA members set fire on backhoe of mining company in Palawan

Military authorities in Palawan launched Monday an operation against six unidentified armed members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), who were suspected responsible for torching a backhoe reportedly owned by Citi Nickel Mining Development Company (CNMDC) in its mine site in Sofronio Española. The backhoe was set on fire early Sunday afternoon by members of the leftist movement allegedly because the CNMDC failed to pay “revolutionary taxes.”

 The military operation in surrounding areas in southern Palawan, particularly in Barangays Punang and Sofronio Española, was led by troops belonging to the Marine Battalion Landing Team 12 under Lt. Col. Efren Rellores.

In interviews with the local media, officials of the CNMDC claimed that shortly before the backhoe was burned, the armed rebels prevented one of the company vehicles from passing through a bogus road block they set up in Punang. Civilian vehicles were allowed to pass before the armed leftist’s burned the backhoe.

Meanwhile, Lt. Ann Adele Caluya, spokesperson of the Western Command (WESCOM), said extortion attempts by the CPP-NPA are now being investigated in southern Palawan.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=478804