NPA blows up sugarcane loading facility in Negros

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — About 25 members of the New People’s Army blew up a sugar transloading station owned by Lopez Sugar Milling Corp. at Barangay (village) Mabini in Escalante City late Sunday, a military official said Monday.

Major Ray Tiongson, spokesman of the Army’s 3rd Division, said the property destroyed in the attack, which occurred at 9:45 p.m. and involved the use of an improvised explosive device, was a core laboratory, a weighing scale platform and a crane. A Fuso hauler truck was damaged, he said.

The NPA took with them a 12-gauge shotgun with 20 rounds of ammunition and two radio handsets, Tiongson said.

Senior Superintendent Milko Lirazan, Negros Occidental police director, said the authorities had no estimate of the damage but he noted that the core laboratory was constructed at a cost of P10 million.

The transloading station is a facility where sugar growers deliver their cane for sorting according to sweetness and weighing before hauling to the sugar mill. The sorting for sweetness done in the core laboratory and the weighing determine how much farmers would get paid for their cane.

It was gathered that the attack on the transloading station was a punitive action by the rebels for failure of the milling company to give in to the extortion demands of the CPP-NPA, Tiongson said in a press statement.

He noted that on May 3, 2013, the CPP-NPA raided the Philex Mining Corp. compound in Sipalay City due to denied extortion demand and burned down two employee bunkhouses, a tractor with drilling machine, a generator set, and personal belongings of workers.

“This is a gross violation of CARHRIHL (Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law) by the CPP-NPA which the communist group is a signatory. The CPP-NPA leadership who has the direct knowledge continues to tolerate such act,” said Major General Aurelio Baladad, commander of 3rd Infantry Division.

Lieutenant General John Bonafos, Commander of the AFP Central Command, said the incident is detrimental to the economy of the province of Negros Occidental.

“These atrocities that these armed bandits are conducting deter and deny the people of Negros the rights and opportunities for a decent way of life,” Bonafos said.

He added that the rebels are pulling down Negros Occidental in their goal of giving the province the label of “conflict-manageable and development-ready” as its neighbor, Negros Oriental.

“We have already captured the Tiamzons, Roy Erecre and just last Friday, the secretary for the South-East Front of Komiteng Rehiyon-Negros, alias Pediong/Nasyo. Little by little they are losing their leadership…If a business establishment didn’t pay ‘revolutionary tax,’ they burn its equipment and they couldn’t care less if civilians get caught up or not,” said Lieutenant Commander Jim Aris Alagao, spokesperson of the Central Command.

Alagao was referring to alleged communist leaders Benito and Wilma Tiamzon. Erecre, meanwhile, is a suspected top leader of the NPA.

Pursuit operations are being conducted by the 303rd Brigade, Alagao said. With reports from Bong Lozada and Frances Mangosing, INQUIRER.net

RELATED STORIES

NPA leader nabbed in Negros Occidental—military

Military in Negros, Panay go on alert for NPA anniversary