NPA rebels raid DOLE campsite in Philippines

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 28, 2010) – Philippine Maoist rebels raided a pineapple plantation in the southern island of Mindanao and destroyed equipment after a failed extortion, security officials said Sunday.

Officials said New People’s Army rebels stormed the village of Guinhalinan in Surigao del Sur’s Barobo town late Saturday and destroyed four excavators and two bulldozers owned by a sub-contractor of DOLE Philippines, Inc.

“Armed men believed to be members of the New People’s Army’s Guerilla Front 14 swooped down on DOLE’s camp site and burned four backhoes and two bulldozers. The burning was related to DOLE’s refusal to give in to the extortion demands of the New People’s Army,” said Army Major Michelle Anayron, a spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division.

Dole Philippines is a leading multi-national company that operates fully integrated agricultural and industrial facilities, with a 24,000-acre base plantation, two cannery complexes, with a can and packaging and fresh fruit plants; shipping and wharf operation with a box and labels plant. It has an additional 18,000 acres of grower farms within the provinces of South Cotabato and Sarangani in Mindanao and employs almost 6,000 regular employees.

It was the second attack by the rebels in two days. Some 50 communist rebels on Friday also raided the village of Luz in North Cotabato’s Mlang town and killed a government militia and wounded two more before ransacking an army detachment and seized 35 assorted high powered weapons.

Major General Mario Chan, the regional army commander, branded the attack as terrorism and ordered troops to track down the rebels.

“It has been a pattern for the New People’s Army to extort money from legitimate companies. Those who refused to give money are punished by the New People’s Army – they target top management officers for liquidation or burn their equipment like what the New People’s Army did to DOLE Philippines,” he said. “This is clearly an act of terrorism; indeed kidnap-for-ransom is what separates the New People’s Army from the Abu Sayyaf.”

The Abu Sayyaf has been linked by Philippine authorities to the spate of terrorism and kidnappings of wealthy traders in exchange for ransom. It is also tied by authorities to the al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya terror groups.

The NPA is fighting for decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. Government peace talks with rebels collapsed in 2004 after communist negotiators accused President Gloria Arroyo of reneging on several humanitarian agreements, among them the release of all political detainees in the country and to put a stop on extrajudicial killings of activists opposed to Arroyo’s rule. (Mindanao Examiner)

11 killed in fierce clashes in South RP

ILIGAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / December 15, 2009) – Eleven communist rebels and government soldiers were killed in fierce clashes Tuesday in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Officials said two more soldiers were wounded in the fighting that broke out in the village of Banlag in Valencia City in Bukidnon province.

“Troops engaged the New People’s Army rebels in a series of encounter that left the communists with nine dead and a still undetermined number of wounded fighters. Government troops suffered two killed-in-actions,” said Major Michele Anayron, a spokesman for the Army’s 4th Infantry Division.

He said the fighting erupted after soldiers under the 8th Infantry Battalion tracked down the rebels in the village. He said the fighting started at around 12.20 p.m. and continued sporadically later in the day.

Troops were pursuing some 60 rebels under Abelardo Navarro, he said, adding, soldiers recovered at least nine rifles left behind by gunmen.

“As of this writing, heavy exchange of fire is still continuing in the area,” Anayron said late Tuesday.

The NPA is the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines which broke off peace talks with Manila in 2004 after accusing President Gloria Arroyo of reneging on several agreements and among them was the release of all political detainees being held across the country. (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippine gunmen seize dozens of civilians

ILIGAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / December 10, 2009) – Philippine gunmen abducted Thursday dozens of civilians in the southern province of Agusan del Sur, an army spokesman said.

Police forces, backed by army soldiers, were sent to the town of Prosperidad to rescue at least 65 villagers, including two private foresters and a teacher, being held captive by gunmen, said Major Michelle Anayron, a spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division.

“We still don’t the motives of the abduction, but police and military forces were sent to the area to track down the gunmen,” Anayron told the independent newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.

He said the gunmen seized the victims at around 6 a.m. in the village of San Martin for a still unknown.

But police said the gunmen, numbering 15, seized 75 people and freed 18 of the hostages, mostly school children, after a series of government negotiations.

“The abductors have freed 17 school children and an adult, and negotiations are still continuing for the safe release of the other hostages,” said Chief Superintendent Lino Calingasan, the regional police chief.

No group claimed responsibility for the mass abductions, but the army spokesman said initial reports have pointed to the Perez group, blamed for many criminalities in the town, as behind the attack.

Tribesmen also seized seven government forest rangers in October in Agusan del Norte province and demanded the government to return their ancestral lands and to cancel all forest agreements with commercial loggers in areas where there are presence of indigenous tribes.

The victims, all employees of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, were freed in the town of Sibagat in Agusan del Sur province after the government cancelled several forestry agreements with commercial logging firms.

It was unknown whether the latest abductions were connected to illegal logging activities.

Both provinces are a known lair of illegal loggers and a stronghold of New People’s Army rebels. Illegal logging activities in the provinces continue unabatedly and are threatening water shed areas.

Last year, some 500 leaders of indigenous tribes and representatives of nongovernmental organizations and the Catholic Church appealed to Manila to put an end to illegal logging and destructive mining in the province and other areas in the Caraga region considered as ancestral domain. (Mindanao Examiner)