Col. Francisco Patrimonio, commander of the Philippine Army’s 302nd Infantry Brigade and the mother unit of all Army battalions in Negros Oriental, said on Friday that they are looking at all possible angles and motives in Friday’s sabotage of heavy equipment at a government-contracted project in northern Negros Oriental.
His statement comes as police and military authorities initially suspect that the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) were behind the attempts to burn down dump trucks and blow up a bulldozer, a crane and a backhoe owned by LL Construction Company shortly after midnight Thursday at the Himampangon Road in the boundary of Manjuyod and Bindoy.
Col. Patrimonio admitted that while witnesses claimed to have heard the perpetrators shout “Mabuhay ang NPA” (long live the NPA) before withdrawing from the crime scene, there are certain indications lacking to prove that it was, indeed, the rebel group that carried out the attack.
For one, the NPA has not come out yet with a statement claiming responsibility for the incident, something unusual if compared to the recent attacks perpetrated by the NPA, such as that of a mining site in Surigao, Patrimonio said.
According to Patrimonio, nobody at press time has informed him yet of any statement issued by the NPA.
Furthermore, the way by which the plan was carried out by the perpetrators to sabotage the multi-million peso project in Himampangon lacked the usual trademarks of the NPA when conducting similar tactical offensives, Patrimonio added.
Although he declined to elaborate, Patrimonio said the Philippine Army and the Philippine National Police are closely coordinating to dig deeper into the incident.
The Army commander said that there could be other motives for the assault, considering that the contractor, LL Construction Company, is owned by a politician, Mayor Lawrence Limkaichong of La Libertad town, and whose wife is Rep. Jocelyn Sy Limkaichong of the 1st district of Negros Oriental.
Col. Patrimonio, meanwhile, said they are not letting their guards down as the Himampangon incident, if indeed perpetrated by the NPA, could be part of the rebel group’s plan to launch special tactical offensives as a “show of force” that could be laid out on the negotiating table when the government of the Philippines and the CPP-NPA-National Democratic Front resume their peace talks by late October or early November.
For her part, Limkaichong denounced the attack as economic sabotage and a senseless act which is a handiwork of desperate people. “If the intention of the sabotage in Himampangon is to scare me off, then their psychological warfare is not working,” she said in a text message to the Dumaguete MetroPost.
The lady legislator said that “obviously, the mastermind and his cohorts do not care for Negros Oriental. They miscalculated their moves because the ripple effects of their action has affected the entire province and its people. What is even worse and extremely dangerous is when these senseless people gain power in government. How then can you expect good governance?”
She expressed fears that the attack could discourage investors to establish business in Negros.
Limkaichong, however, declined to identify their suspects, saying she doesn’t want to preempt the ongoing investigation. (with a report by Judy F. Partlow, PNA)
