NPA rebels attack gold processing plant owned by ComVal town mayor
TAGUM CITY, Philippines – Communist rebels attacked a gold processing plant owned by the family of Mayor Joselito Brillantes in Monkayo, Compostela Valley on Tuesday night, police authorities said Wednesday.
The attack at the JB Management Mining Corp. compound in Barangay (village) Olaycon by suspected New People’s Army rebels occurred past 10 p.m., an initial report from the Monkayo police station revealed.
There were no immediate report of casualties or damage and a team of investigators have been investigating the attack.
Almost simultaneously, an undetermined number of rebels also fired at the command post of the Alpha Company of the Philippine Army’s 25th Infantry in nearby Barangay Banlag, sparking a brief firefight, according to Lt. Col. Michele Anayron, the commander of the unit.
The rebels also blocked the portion of the national highway in Banlag and Olaycon, preventing motorists from getting through, police said.
Marilou Alcaraz, the Monkayo town spokesperson, confirmed the attack on the mining compound but refused to say whether there were casualties or damage to property.
“What I can confirm is that the mayor was not in the compound when it happened,” Alcaraz told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by text message.
Tuesday’s attack was the second to hit the gold processing facility of one of Compostela Valley’s prominent political clans in seven years.
In February 2008, at least two security guards were killed when dozens of NPA rebels assaulted the plant compound.
In the previous attack, the NPA accused the Brillanteses of various anti-revolutionary activities due to their support for the government’s counter-insurgency programs. SFM/AC
