Rebels set Chinese firm’s road-building equipment on fire

BANSALAN, Davao del Sur, Philippines—Suspected New People’s Army  rebels torched four pieces of heavy equipment owned by a Chinese company undertaking a road rehabilitation project here late Friday night, police said Saturday.

Senior Inspector Deozar Almaza, Bansalan police chief, said four men riding tandem on two motorcycles arrived in Barangay Dolo here around 11:30 p.m. and immediately went to a section of the road where  a backhoe, a payloader, a grader and a roller truck—all owned by the Qingdao-based Qingjian Group—were parked.

The Chinese company has been doing concreting works on the Bansalan portion of the Davao del Sur-North Cotabato highway.

Almaza said the men divested security guard Marlon Auza of his .38 caliber pistol and then introduced themselves to the construction workers as NPA rebels.

They then poured gasoline on equipment and set the road construction vehicles on fire, Almaza said.

He estimated the damage at about P800,000.

Bansalan Mayor Edwin Reyes said he has ordered a thorough investigation of the incident.

Ricky Gu, project director of Qingjian, said the incident would stall work but added the company was looking for ways to resume work quickly.

“Four major pieces of equipment were burned,” he said.

The NPA has recently renewed attacks against various corporations in Mindanao.

On October  27, the rebels  torched a van owned by Japanese Sumitomo Fruits Corp. (Sumifru) in Makilala, North Cotabato.

Also in October, NPA rebels raided the compound of Sumifru in Compostela Valley and burned equipment and other facilities.

On October 3, heavily armed NPA rebels  stormed the compound of a mining conglomerate in Claver, Surigao del Norte, and set over 100 trucks and other heavy equipment on fire.

Originally posted at 1:05 p.m.