NPA rebels burn cassava milling plant in Bukidnon
Bukidnon. INQUIRER FILES
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Communist guerrillas on Saturday burned a cassava milling facility in Bukidnon that they said was owned by a businessman they alleged to be involved in “grabbing lands” of the indigenous people.
Nikolas Marino, New People’s Army (NPA) spokesman in Northern Mindanao, sent text messages to reporters on Saturday saying that a team of 12 armed rebels have attacked the facility in Barangay Siloo in Malitbog town after overpowering their guards.
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Marino said the rebels confiscated an air rifle and two radio sets from the guards.
Sending text messages to reporters came as a surprise as the NPA had not done so since four years ago when the rebels suffered setbacks starting with the killings of their top leaders like Jorge “Ka Oris” Madlos and former National Democratic Front consultant Pedro Cudaste, both of whom were killed in Bukidnon in 2021.
After the killing of Madlos and Cudaste, the NPA tightened their security and ceased sending communications to news media organizations and reporters.
Police Sergeant Graciano Temano of the Malitbog police station, confirmed the NPA attack saying the rebels gathered the workers before setting fire to the stocks of cassava chips, a milling machine and a building.
Temano said none of the workers were hurt. The owner of the milling facility, whom Temano did not name, estimated the damage to properties at P3 million.
The Army’s 4th Infantry Division said only about 100 NPA rebels are left operating in Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental after they decimated most of its guerrilla fronts in the Mt. Pantaron range straddling Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental provinces.
