FILE PHOTO BY ERWIN MASCARIÑAS
MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Tuesday urged the New People’s Army (NPA) to stop its attacks on a long-awaited road project vital in the development of Northern and Eastern Samar provinces.
“Pare-parehas tayong hindi uunlad at hihilahin natin ang bansa pababa. These attacks have to stop, especially the ones that affect the construction of vital infrastructure projects,” Año said in a statement.
“If you [NPA] are really fighting for a better Philippines, spare this infrastructure project for its completion will benefit your fellow Filipinos immensely,” he also said.
On May 21, soldiers securing the equipment for the said project were attacked by suspected NPA rebels, killing a soldier from the 63th Infantry Battalion and two suspected rebels.
READ: Soldier slain in alleged NPA attack in Northern Samar
Bishop Crispin Vasquez of the Catholic Diocese of Borongan, one of the leaders of church-led Samar Island Partnership for Peace and Development, had also recently appealed to the NPA to stop violent attacks on the billion-peso worth Samar Pacific Coastal Road project.
Año said the government and the Catholic Church are one in condemning “counterproductive” attacks against innocent people and those that damage infrastructure projects.
He said that if the NPA truly envisions a peaceful country, it will stop the attacks claiming lives and instead start engaging in local peace talks.