Armed men torch payloader at Ecija flood-control site

BONGABON, NUEVA ECIJA – Three armed men, who identified themselves as communist rebels, set fire to a payloader that has been used for a flood-control project in Barangay (village) Labi here on Wednesday night (May 2).

Equipment operator Lorenzo Soria, 54, told the police that he was awakened by the men at 11:30 p.m. and was ordered to lie face down on the other side of the road by the suspects.

“Naamoy ko na lang na amoy gasoline at may mga putok ng baril (I started to smell gasoline then heard guns being fired),” said Soria, who works for the Cabanatuan City-based Front Nine Construction Company.

The armed men walked away after torching the heavy equipment, said Chief Insp. George Caluag, Jr.

The firm informed the police that it has been receiving demands from the New People’s Army to pay a “progressive tax.”

Authorities placed the damage at over P4 million.