Suspected members of the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People’s Army (CPP/NPA) have allegedly burned a truck used to haul sugarcane in Canlaon City Thursday.
Sr. Supt. Edwin Portento, provincial director of the Philippine National Police (PNP), disclosed in an interview Friday that the incident apparently stemmed from the refusal of the truck owner to pay the so-called revolutionary tax to the alleged NPA rebels.
The owner of the truck was identified as Joselito Albellar while the driver was identified as Samuel Santiniaman Barnayha, 37 years old, married, and a resident of Barangay Bucalan, Canlaon City.
Initial police investigation revealed that the truck driver, Samuel Barnayha reported to the police that at around 12:30 p.m. Thursday, a certain Bani Tamba hired the truck to haul sugarcane at Sitio Tabologo in Barangay Budlasan, Canlaon City.
The while on the way to Tabalogo with a sugarcane worker, more or less 10 unidentified armed men waylaid them and instructed them to disembark, saying they will not harm them and that they were only after the truck. The suspects allegedly told them that the owner “refused to pay revolutionary tax”, the police report said.
The suspects poured gasoline on the truck and set it on fire, sending the driver and the sugarcane worker, whose name was not mentioned in the initial police report, to flee the area.
The estimated distance from the place of the burning incident was around 20 kilometers from the Canlaon City proper, the police said.
Sr. Supt. Portento said the burning incident implies that the NPA wants to show that they are still “alive and kicking” as he assured that the police are not taking this incident lightly because it has negative impact on business and the peace and order situation in the province.
“While we are working on eliminating other forms of crime like illegal drugs and gambling, and now this. Burning and extortion are also crimes and we are looking at ways to address these, too,” said Portento. (Judy Flores Partlow/PNA)
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