BUTUAN CITY (Zamboanga Journal /15 Jun) Unidentified men torched a passenger jeep, owned by a town mayor, on a village in the southern Philippine province of Agusan del Norte, a known stronghold of the outlawed New People's Army rebels, officials said Thursday.
Officials said at least four gunmen flagged down the jeep, owned by Mayor Santiago Ocot, of Carmen town, near the village of Ruales and ordered the passengers to disembark before burning the vehicle late Wednesday.
"The gunmen poured gasoline on the jeep and then torched the vehicle before escaping," Lt. Col. Francisco Simbajon, a spokesman for the Army's 4th Infantry Division, told the Zamboanga Journal.
Simbajon said the jeep was traveling to Gingoog City from Butuan City when it was flagged down. "Authorities are investigating this incident, but initial military reports suggested the attack could be connected to political or business rivalries, but we are not discounting the possibility that the NPA could be behind this," he said.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the province is a known lair of communist insurgents, who are known to torch passenger vehicles if their owners failed to pay illegal taxation.
NPA rebels have previously attacked other jeeps owned by Ocot and had in the past threatened to kill him for his refusal to pay so-called "revolutionary taxes."
The mayor owned a fleet of passenger jeeps and mini-buses plying between Agusan del Norte and neighboring provinces.
Officials said at least four gunmen flagged down the jeep, owned by Mayor Santiago Ocot, of Carmen town, near the village of Ruales and ordered the passengers to disembark before burning the vehicle late Wednesday.
"The gunmen poured gasoline on the jeep and then torched the vehicle before escaping," Lt. Col. Francisco Simbajon, a spokesman for the Army's 4th Infantry Division, told the Zamboanga Journal.
Simbajon said the jeep was traveling to Gingoog City from Butuan City when it was flagged down. "Authorities are investigating this incident, but initial military reports suggested the attack could be connected to political or business rivalries, but we are not discounting the possibility that the NPA could be behind this," he said.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the province is a known lair of communist insurgents, who are known to torch passenger vehicles if their owners failed to pay illegal taxation.
NPA rebels have previously attacked other jeeps owned by Ocot and had in the past threatened to kill him for his refusal to pay so-called "revolutionary taxes."
The mayor owned a fleet of passenger jeeps and mini-buses plying between Agusan del Norte and neighboring provinces.
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