NPA torch heavy equipment in Iloilo town

 Three heavy equipment owned by a construction firm in Igcocolo village, Guimbal town were torched by suspected members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).

As per the Guimbal Municipal Police Station, around 15 men entered the concrete batching plant of Wilkinson Construction owned by Mr. Wilkinson Ong at 10:45 p.m.

Investigation by the government troops showed one of the perpetrators introduced themselves as members of the CPP-NPA then used a 1.5-liter bottle filled with fuel to torch the equipment.

A torched backhoe at Guimbal town, Iloilo by suspected members of New People's Army
(photo credit to PNA)

Lt. Col. Joel Benedict Batara, commander of the Philippine Army’s 61st Infantry Battalion (61IB), told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) that one of the suspects threatened the personnel.

“One suspect told the personnel not to do something unfavorable to them because they are members of the NPA,” Batara said

Batara was able to talk to project engineer and learned that the company had been receiving extortion letters and text messages from the rebels since 2017.

Last February was the last extortion try by the NPA, the company has never agreed to any extortion tries by the rebels.

Wilkinson Construction undertakes government’s road development projects in the towns of the first district of Iloilo.

The burning of the construction equipment - two transit mixers and one backhoe - will hamper the road projects.

“The project engineer said they were instructed by their head to temporarily stop the road works because the company will still need to have a meeting to assess the situation,” he said.

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Report from PNA