By: Jennifer P. Rendon
AUTHORITIES believe that failure to extort drove suspected New People’s Army (NPA) members to set on fire three units of heavy equipment late evening of Sept. 11, 2019 in Guimbal, Iloilo.
Lieutenant Colonel Joel Benedict Batara, Philippine Army’s 61st Infantry Battalion, said the incident happened inside the concrete batching plant of Bacolod City-based Wilkinson Construction at Barangay Igcocolo, a village just 2 kilometers from the town proper.
Wilkinson Construction is the contractor of a road-widening project from Oton to Miag-ao town.
Batara said the two transit mixers were priced at P8 million each while the backhoe was valued at P10 million.
Batara said construction workers were roused from their sleep when 15 armed persons stormed their sleeping quarters around 10:45 p.m. of Wednesday.
The suspects came from the back portion of the guard-less facility.
Brandishing short and high-powered firearms, the rebels gathered the workers in one area and were prohibited from using their mobile phones.
They were also warned against resisting as they are only after the company.
Batara said the intruders also identified themselves as NPA members.
The armed men then retrieved 1.5 liter plastic bottles filled with gasoline which they doused on the equipment.
Police investigators said the suspects fled to Tubungan town.
“They could have used a vehicle in going in the area. There were only 15 men who went inside but there were several combatants positioned as members of their blocking force,” he said.
The employees were unscathed.
Batara said the attack happened in just over 10 minutes.
Members of the Bureau of Fire Protection-Guimbal Station were called to put out the fire.
EXTORTION
Records from the Municipal Police Station indicated that the construction firm received extortion letters from the CPP-NPA since 2017. The latest was sent in February 2019.
Police Lieutenant Nelson Caro, Guimbal police chief, said they did not receive any intelligence report about NPA’s plan to attack the company.
“These are clear indications that the suspects are members of the CPP-NPA. They are the only group who has the capacity to do such acts. The mode of commission is exactly the same with other burning incidents they have admitted in the past and most of all, their primary motive is to extort money from the contractors,” the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) said in a statement.
